The United States plans to process up to 4,500 refugee applications from White South Africans each month and is setting up a modular processing site on U.S. embassy property in Pretoria, according to a U.S. State Department contracting document.
The previously unreported document, dated Jan. 27, indicates a significant push to accelerate admissions from South Africa, even as refugee intake from other regions has been sharply limited. The monthly target exceeds President Donald Trump’s stated plan to admit a total of 7,500 refugees worldwide in the 2026 fiscal year.
About 2,000 White South Africans had entered the United States as refugees by Jan. 31 under a program launched in May 2025, U.S. figures show, though admissions increased in recent months. Roughly 1,500 were admitted in December and January, compared with about 500 in the prior six and a half months.
The plan could face delays due to administrative backlogs in Washington. All refugee travel to the United States, including from South Africa, has been paused from Feb. 23 to March 9 because of operational issues, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The White House referred questions to the State Department, while the State Department and Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
The contracting document justifies awarding a no-bid $772,000 contract to a South African firm to install 14 prefabricated trailers, citing an urgent need for a secure processing site. It said operations at a previous commercial site in Johannesburg were disrupted after South African authorities carried out an immigration raid, prompting the U.S. to move processing to embassy grounds.
“The inability to safely process about 4,500 applicants per month, an objective communicated … from the White House, would result in failure to meet a Presidential priority,” the document said.
President Trump halted refugee admissions after taking office in 2025 as part of broader immigration restrictions, but later introduced a program to admit White South Africans of Afrikaner descent, arguing they faced violent persecution. South Africa’s government has rejected that claim, and refugee advocates have criticized the policy.
South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said Pretoria would not interfere with the U.S. program if it remained within the law, while reiterating that claims of systemic persecution of Afrikaners were unfounded.
Because of the broader refugee ban, South Africans are being admitted on a case-by-case basis, requiring approval from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. A U.S. official said delays at DHS had contributed to an approval backlog.
U.S. and South African officials reached a private agreement in late December to allow refugee processing to continue after tensions flared over the Johannesburg raid. Applicants have since reported interviews taking place at temporary structures on embassy property, suggesting the new site is now operational.