Trump Sets Lowest Refugee Cap, Prioritizes Afrikaners

President Donald Trump set the U.S. refugee admissions ceiling for fiscal year 2026 at 7,500 in a Sept. 30 Federal Register notice, the lowest annual cap on record. The notice directs that admissions "shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa," prioritizing white South Africans, a claim the South African government disputes; about 138 South Africans had been admitted under the program as of early September. The 7,500 cap is a sharp reversal from the Biden administration’s 125,000 target and follows a pause in routine refugee admissions since January and a special pathway for white South Africans that has yielded only a small number of arrivals. Advocates and Democratic lawmakers say prioritizing one group politicizes and undermines the refugee program and have criticized apparent failures to consult Congress, while the administration plans to centralize resettlement grants and contracts at HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. Internal memos and statements from senior officials indicate a broader effort to reshape U.S. and global asylum norms — including consideration of prioritizing certain Europeans targeted for political views — and resettlement agencies report layoffs amid concerns that concentrating limited slots on one group will weaken the program and U.S. moral standing.