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trump's repulsive "refugee resettlement" program for white Afrikaners [1]
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Date: 2025-05-12
Richard Stengel, former State Department official in the Obama administration, provides an excellent concise summary of trump's new "refugee resettlement" program for white Afrikaners from South Africa, calling it "deeply and morally wrongheaded and repulsive."
A group of 59 white South Africans arrived at Dulles airport today, and were welcomed by the State Department and DHS.
Here are some key snippets —
The connection between Afrikaners and white supremacists -
Afrikaners have become the darling of these right-wing, white supremacist movements around the world, that it's like — it's like the Lost Cause for them, it's like the old Confederacy. They're held up as these white Christians who are being dispossessed of their land. It's like this is a modern replacement theory in a — in a country where, by the way, white people make up 7% of the population and own 78% of the farmland. So it's actually, there's no injustice here.
On trump's repulsive lie to justify this move -
It's taking places away from refugees who are really being crushed by authoritarian governments and military governments for these folks who have never had anything happen to them. And Trump, amazingly, called it a genocide, one of the worst lies I've ever heard him say. There's just been a small handful of farmers that have been killed over the past 10 years. No land has actually been expropriated, so it's just a farce and a sham and a moral ugliness.
A bit of history -
These are the descendants of the people who created the most diabolical system of white supremacy in human history, apartheid. They're not directly responsible for it, but it was a system that actually moved Black people off of the arable land. So they inherited the land that the Black people had to give up. It was called forced removal. It was something called a Bantustan policy, where they moved Black people out of the cities and farmlands into these remote areas with non-arable land. I mean, it was just one of the most, worst processes ever.
What next with this white supremacist regime?
What happens now that he's taken this step? I don't know. I mean, it's like ... a 'Batman' movie or something where all the bad guys get collected under one roof. I mean, like, who else do you now go — go and find other racists who have, you know, repressed people and give them refugee status here. It's just, I don't know where it goes from here.
Also -
The trump regime suspended all refugee programs on Jan 21. Afrikaners from S. Africa are the only exception.
on Jan 21. Afrikaners from S. Africa are the only exception. DHS announced today that it is ending deportation protecti ons for refugees from Afghanistan . Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that "overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.” www.axios.com/…
Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that "overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.” www.axios.com/… The refugee process often takes years. But only three months have passed from the time Mr. Trump signed an executive order establishing refugee status for Afrikaners to the first cohort making its way to America. www.nytimes.com/…
have passed from the time Mr. Trump signed an executive order establishing refugee status for Afrikaners to the first cohort making its way to America. www.nytimes.com/… White South Africans typically have 20 times the wealth of Black people , according to an article in the Review of Political Economy. The Black South African unemployment rate is 46.1%, compared with 9.2% for white people.
, according to an article in the Review of Political Economy. The Black South African unemployment rate is 46.1%, compared with 9.2% for white people. The Episcopal Church said it will no longer work with the federal government on refugee settlement because of the "preferential treatment" granted for the Afrikaners. www.aol.com/…
said it will no longer work with the federal government on refugee settlement because of the "preferential treatment" granted for the Afrikaners. www.aol.com/… Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen: “To watch the Trump administration apply what I call their global apartheid policy … is just an outrageous insult to the whole idea of our country.” www.americanprogress.org/…
Additional coverage
Epilogue
trump is telling us that he can defy laws and norms, elevate white supremacists, defy Congress, defy SCOTUS, destroy lives with a stroke of a pen and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Let’s prove him wrong. Let’s make sure that the American people are paying attention and understand the consequences.
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