Trump administration welcomes 59 white South African refugees into the U.S., sparking political debate

American officials welcomed a group of 59 Afrikaners, who are from the white ethnic minority who ruled South Africa during apartheid, to the U.S. as refugees.

American officials welcomed a group of 59 white South Africans at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday afternoon, in a ceremony greeting them as refugees under the argument that they are fleeing discrimination and racially based violence in their home country.

The newly arrived people are from the ethnic minority of Afrikaners, the group of whites who ruled South Africa during apartheid. The dozens that came Monday, including families with young children, arrived via a flight chartered by the State Department. Their resettlement in the U.S. comes as the Trump administration has shut down refugee admissions from almost all other countries, including Afghanistan, Sudan, the Republic of Congo and Myanmar.  

The Afrikaners were met on arrival by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar. 

Landau said that Trump’s pause of the U.S. refugee program was from the very beginning subject to exceptions when it was determined to be in the interest of the United States. He cited the example of when the refugees “could be assimilated easily into our country.”

“They tell quite harrowing stories of the violence that they faced in South Africa that was not redressed by the authorities by the unjust application of the law,” Landau said. “The United States, as we were proud to say, has stood for equal justice under law and the fair and impartial application of the law.”