In a move that has sparked international controversy, the Trump administration is set to welcome more than two dozen white South Africans to the United States as refugees, even as the broader US refugee resettlement program remains largely frozen. The first group of Afrikaner refugees is scheduled to arrive on May 12 at Dulles International Airport outside Washington DC, where they will be greeted by a high-level government delegation, including Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The relocation, described as the beginning of a “much larger-scale effort,” was confirmed by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Miller defended the policy, arguing that the situation in South Africa fits the “textbook definition” of why the US refugee program was originally created – namely, to protect individuals facing persecution based on a protected characteristic such as race.

“This is persecution based on race,” Miller said. “The refugee program must prioritize those who are suffering racial discrimination, and what is happening to the Afrikaners in South Africa is a clear case of that.”

The Trump administration’s decision to expedite the resettlement of white South Africans, while suspending refugee programs for applicants from Afghanistan, Iraq, most of sub-Saharan Africa, and other crisis-ridden regions, has drawn sharp criticism from refugee advocacy organizations, legal experts, and foreign policy analysts.

Since issuing an executive order in February prioritizing the processing of white South Africans claiming racial discrimination, the US Embassy in Pretoria has been conducting interviews specifically aimed at Afrikaners alleging persecution. The State Department said it has been “prioritizing........

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