Darlene McCormick Sanchez' article "Afrikaners Stand in Line for Trump's Refugee Offer," published on February 24, 2025, by The Epoch Times, https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/afrikaners-stand-in-line-for-trumps-refugee-offer-5813397
delves into a contentious development in U.S.-South Africa relations following President Donald Trump's executive order on January 20, 2025, his inauguration day. It explores Trump's offer to resettle White Afrikaners, people like me, in the United States as refugees, citing racial persecution in South Africa by Blacks, and the mixed responses this has provoked.
Trump's order, signed on his first day back in office, suspends foreign aid to South Africa and accuses its government of "government-sponsored race-based discrimination," including property confiscation from Afrikaners without compensation. It directs the U.S. Secretary of State and Homeland Security Secretary to prioritise Afrikaner resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), framing them as victims of "unjust racial discrimination." The move reverses a broader USRAP suspension Trump also enacted, carving out an exception for Afrikaners. This follows years of Trump and adviser Elon Musk—born in South Africa—highlighting alleged persecution of White farmers, a narrative tied to the "White genocide" trope.
The order cites South Africa's new Expropriation Act, signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in January 2025, which allows land seizure without compensation in specific public-interest cases to address apartheid-era inequalities. Trump claims this targets Afrikaners, who own most farmland. The article reports "tens of thousands" of Afrikaners lining up outside the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria by mid-February 2025, seeking refugee status. Wilhelm Snyman, a 46-year-old jobless computer worker, exemplifies this, blaming affirmative action for his unemployment since 2019 and expressing hope for a new life in America where he won't be "despised because we're white." Suzette Steyn, 27, criticises Afrikaner groups for not representing the 4.5 million-strong community, arguing many feel unsafe and unwelcome due to racial policies and crime. She highlights fears of violence—rape and murder—and job discrimination.
While groups like AfriForum and Solidarity rejected Trump's offer in early February, insisting Afrikaners want to stay and build South Africa, the article suggests grassroots disconnect, with many individuals eager to leave. AfriForum and Solidarity do not resent the interests of people like me. I have recently lodged my papers and hope that I gain entry to the US. I will take my business with me, as I hope fellow Afrikaners will do. This place is a lesson to the rest of the West going down the same disastrous, diverse multicultural/multiracial path.