The new figures represent a sharp decrease from the limit of 125,000 set last year by former Democratic President Joe Biden, and were published in a notice in the Federal Register (similar to the Official Gazette) without official justification for the change or the admission criteria.
The admission of 7,500 refugees in the fiscal year 2026, which began on October 1, is “justified for humanitarian reasons or in the national interest,” and the notice cited by the AP does not mention any specific group for admission other than white South Africans, also known as Afrikaners.
Refugee status may be granted to “other victims of illegal or unfair discrimination in their countries of origin,” the notice adds, without specifying. Until recently, the U.S. refugee program had bipartisan support. Trump suspended the refugee program on his first day in office, and since then, only a small number of refugees, mostly white South Africans, have entered the country.
Some refugees were also admitted under a legal process that sought to allow the entry of those who were abroad and in the immigration process for the United States when the program was suspended.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge, one of the leading U.S. agencies supporting immigrants, criticized the new government policy, stating that “focusing the vast majority of admissions on a single group undermines the purpose of the program as well as its credibility.”
“This decision not only reduces the admission limit for refugees but also diminishes our moral standing,” Vignarajah told the AP.
The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), which filed a lawsuit against the suspension of the program, stated in a press release that refugees awaiting admission to the country have already undergone rigorous security checks and are detained in dangerous conditions.
“By favoring Afrikaners while continuing to bar the entry of thousands of refugees who have already been assessed and approved, the government is once again politicizing a humanitarian program,” said the group’s president, Sharif Aly, as quoted by the AP.
The Trump administration announced the program for Afrikaners in February, claiming that white South African farmers faced discrimination and violence in their country, a charge the South African government vehemently denies.
U.S. presidents have the authority to set the refugee admission limit, often considering recommendations from the State Department or consulting with refugee resettlement agencies. The new limit represents the lowest number of refugees admitted to the U.S. since the program’s inception in 1980.
During his first term, Trump progressively reduced the limit each year, reaching 15,000 in the last year of his administration. A separate program for Afghan former collaborators with the U.S. government is still admitting Afghans into the country, but tens of thousands of these individuals have not received immigration approval.
Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, an organization advocating for the resettlement of at-risk Afghans, described today’s decision as a “horrendous betrayal” and “a very sad day.” “I think we need to face the facts. This means that the President and the White House (…) will not allow Afghan refugees to come here,” he said in a video posted on Instagram.
