Afrikaners Arrive In U.S. As Welcomed Refugees

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

Thanks to President Trump’s Feb. 7 executive order, 59 refugees fled South Africa – a nation with an 81.4 percent majority Black population. The president granted them refugee status as alleged victims of racial discrimination − a charge disputed by the South African government and human rights activists.

The executive order also said the United States would no longer provide aid or assistance to South Africa. But news reports show the refugees arrived at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., a  city with a 43.26 percent Black population and a 40.3 percent White population.

The refugees arrived a few days before new census estimates released on May 15, showed large U.S. cities added residents at a rapid clip between July 2023 and July 2024 – cutting into post-pandemic declines and in some cases surpassing even the urban growth rate of the 2010s.

Leading the way was New York City, which added 87,000 new residents, followed by Houston with 43,000, and Los Angeles with 31,000. San Antonio, Charlotte, and Chicago were not far behind. Sun Belt cities recorded the fastest percentage growth, but post-industrial cities like Philly, Detroit, and Newark also added thousands of people.

The census bureau tracked population growth from July 2023 to July 2024, and found that cities across the country saw increased growth.

“Many population growth rates reversed or saw major changes between 2023 and 2024,” Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, said in a statement.

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“In fact, cities of all sizes, in all regions, showed faster growth and larger gains than in 2023, except for small cities in the South, whose average population growth rate remained the same,” said Delbé.

According to news reports, Troy Edgar, deputy Homeland Security secretary, and Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, greeted the families, shaking hands and posing for photos.

“Welcome to America,” Landau told the families. “I want you to know that you are really welcome here.”

Landau told reporters, “They tell quite harrowing stories of the violence that they faced in South Africa that was not redressed by the authorities by the unjust application of the law,” Landau said. “The United States, as we were proud to say, has stood for equal justice under law and the fair and impartial application of the law.”

According to NBC News, “Their resettlement in the U.S. comes as the Trump administration has shut down refugee admissions from almost all other countries, including Afghanistan, Sudan, the Republic of Congo and Myanmar.

The Episcopal Church responded to the refugee’s arrival by announcing it would terminate its partnership with the government to resettle refugees, citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe wrote in an open letter that the church has decided to end refugee work with the federal government by the end of the fiscal year, “in light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.”

Episcopal Migration Ministries said it had been notified by the federal government that it was expected to resettle some of the refugees.

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“It has been painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years,” wrote Most Rev. Sean Rowe, the presiding bishop of the church, adding that others including the Afghans and Christians fleeing persecution have been denied refuge.