Washington/Pretoria — The United States is aiming to process up to 4,500 refugee applications per month from white South Africans, according to a previously undisclosed State Department contracting document dated January 27. The target significantly exceeds President Donald Trump’s publicly stated refugee admissions cap of 7,500 globally for fiscal year 2026.
The document outlines plans to install 14 prefabricated modular buildings on U.S. embassy property in Pretoria to create a secure refugee processing site. The move follows an immigration raid by South African authorities on a previous commercial processing location in Johannesburg, which officials said compromised operations.
The contract, valued at $772,000 and awarded without competitive bidding, cites an urgent need to safely handle thousands of monthly applicants a priority communicated by the White House to the State Department’s refugee division. Failure to meet that objective, the document notes, would undermine a presidential directive.
Although only about 2,000 white South Africans have been admitted under the program launched in May 2025, entries accelerated in recent months, with roughly 1,500 arrivals recorded in December and January combined. However, recent administrative pauses have disrupted processing. The State Department temporarily halted refugee travel from February 23 to March 9 due to operational constraints.
Under an executive order issued in January 2025, broader refugee admissions were suspended, requiring case by case approval from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Internal delays at the Department of Homeland Security have reportedly created a backlog.
The refugee initiative has added strain to U.S.–South Africa relations. Pretoria has rejected claims that Afrikaners face systemic persecution, describing the assertion as unfounded. South African authorities previously detained contractors and briefly held U.S. refugee officers during a December enforcement action at the Johannesburg site, before both governments reached a quiet agreement allowing operations to continue.
Whether the United States can sustain a monthly intake of 4,500 applicants remains uncertain, particularly amid administrative hurdles and broader immigration restrictions.