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By Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant
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The Trump administration will cap refugee admissions at 7,500 for the 2026 fiscal year, a steep reduction from previous levels, and most of those admitted will be white South Africans, according to a notice published Thursday in the Federal Register.
The move by the White House marks a sharp departure from the Biden administration’s ceiling of 125,000 refugees last year. The notice did not explain the rationale for the new limit, saying only that admitting 7,500 refugees was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
Refugee groups immediately reacted to the posting, with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) calling it egregious.
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“This determination makes it painfully clear that the Trump administration values politics over protection," IRAP President Sharif Aly said in a statement shared with Newsweek. "By privileging Afrikaners while continuing to ban thousands of refugees who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is once again politicizing a humanitarian program. It is egregious to exclude refugees who completed years of rigorous security checks and are currently stuck in dangerous and precarious situations."
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump heavily restricted both refugee and asylum programs on his return to office, but later welcomed a group of Afrikaners, claiming they had faced persecution in South Africa. That move sparked outrage from refugee advocacy groups, who argued that people from other nations in the midst of conflicts were being passed over.
What To Know
The notice, from the president, said most refugee allocations for 2026 would go to white South Africans, as well as "other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands".
Trump has repeatedly alleged that the South African government is actively persecuting white citizens, particularly farmers. During a visit to the White House in May, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was shown a video laying out the alleged genocide claims, which he adamantly denied.
The president also signed an executive order, stating that white South Africans could be considered refugees.
In a separate filing, the President said that the U.S. refugee program must be in the national interest, promote efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and protect the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.
To do that, the president said he would move the administration of initial refugee resettlement grants to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, rather than it being administered by the Department of State.
Humanitarian groups have denounced the Trump administration's approach to the refugee program, arguing it should be based on need, not politics. IRAP filed a class action lawsuit earlier this year challenging the suspension of the refugee program as it was.
The organization said Thursday that the number of people with confirmed travel plans to be resettled in the U.S. before the refugee program was suspended was far larger than the entire program for the year.
What people Are Saying
IRAP President Sharif Aly, in the statement shared with Newsweek: "Today’s announcement highlights just how far this administration has gone when it comes to abandoning its responsibilities to displaced people around the world.
"America’s refugee program was built to reflect our values, and the thousands of individuals we’ve closed our doors to represent thousands of missed opportunities of people who could have strengthened a local community or economy. We will continue to fight until the government keeps its promise and admits people who have already been approved and are ready to rebuild their lives here.”
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President & CEO of Global Refuge, in a press release: “This decision doesn’t just lower the refugee admissions ceiling. It lowers our moral standing. For more than four decades, the U.S. refugee program has been a lifeline for families fleeing war, persecution, and repression. At a time of crisis in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela to Sudan and beyond, concentrating the vast majority of admissions on one group undermines the program’s purpose as well as its credibility.”
What's Next
Even for those able to get to the U.S. as refugees, protections and assistance are now more limited.
Trump has ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary for Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to work together to hand the office over to HHS.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Updates: 10/30/25, 2:20 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
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