Approximately 1 648 South African refugees are now living in the United States, nine months after US President Donald Trump invited them to enter America as asylum seekers, citing what he described as Afrikaner persecution and discrimination in South Africa.
The first group of 49 white refugees departed South Africa on a chartered flight on 11 May 2025 and have since been joined by hundreds more compatriots. However, recent reports indicate that many refugees are experiencing severe difficulties with the US resettlement system.
An investigation by journalist Madeleine Rowley, published in The Free Press and featured on CBS News recently, revealed that refugees are struggling with inadequate living conditions. Rowley interviewed ten refugees who reported living in cockroach-infested and mouldy apartments, unsafe motels in high-crime neighbourhoods, and struggling to afford basic necessities.
Each refugee receives a stipend of about R36 000 upon arrival. However, refugees placed in expensive cities such as Detroit, San Jose, Denver and Philadelphia have found that the entire amount is consumed by rent, leaving nothing for food, transportation or winter clothing.
One mother told Rowley: “I understand I am a refugee, and I am very grateful, but I can’t, in my right mind, pay to live with cockroaches.”
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A former farmer who arrived in Denver said: “There were people slumped over everywhere from using fentanyl and prostitution happening on the street corners.”
Refugees also reported difficulties in contacting resettlement agencies, which receive hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to provide safe housing and support services. Some refugees stated they had only seen caseworkers twice since arrival and faced delays in obtaining Social Security numbers, school enrolment and medical care.
The programme was initiated under Trump’s administration, which fast-tracked applications for Afrikaners whilst largely suspending refugee programmes for other nationalities. Trump claimed the group faced “genocide” and racial persecution in South Africa.
The South African government has rejected these claims as “completely false” and noted that Afrikaners are amongst the most economically privileged groups in the country.
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Employment has presented another challenge for the refugees. According to an August 2025 report in Daily News, some refugees have struggled to find work matching their previous skills and experience, with several being rejected from entry-level positions for being “overqualified”. Many have had to accept manual labour or caregiving roles.
One refugee woman told Daily News she was turned away from hotel positions because she was overqualified and now works for a care agency.
Charl Kleinhaus, another refugee, said life in the US is safe but requires self-sufficiency, including tasks that domestic help previously performed in South Africa.
For Fiscal Year 2026, the US has authorised the admission of up to 7 500 refugees, with primary allocation for Afrikaners from South Africa.
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