The Trump administration has raised the U.S. refugee admissions ceiling by 10,000 to make room for more white South Africans, Reuters reports. The decision raises the limit for the current year to 17,500 and continues a Trump immigration policy that has sharply narrowed refugee access while favoring Afrikaners from South Africa.

The outlet shares that a recent document, dated May 21, said that white South Africans (of Afrikaner ethnicity) are in a state of emergency ​due to “incitement of racially motivated violence” by their ​government and political parties in the majority-Black country.

The White House, U.S. State Department, and South Africa's government did ​not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

For many, the government’s support of this particular group’s relocation to the U.S. is questionable, considering the restrictive measures launched more recently that grossly limit immigrants from many Black and brown countries.

President Donald Trump first moved to curb refugee admissions early in his term last year, setting a historically low cap of 7,500 for fiscal 2026. This is far below the 125,000 limit set under former President Joe Biden.

Reuters previously reported that U.S. officials had discussed expanding the program for white South Africans, and that the administration was also aiming to process thousands of Afrikaner applications each month.

This kind of policy has also drawn attention because the refugee system is typically used for people fleeing war, persecution, or disaster from a wide range of countries.

"We're looking ​at the pace of resettlement right now and thinking about how quickly it's going, and do we need to increase the ceiling for the current fiscal year as well," said Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Veprek at an event recently.