South Africa Orders Deportation of Kenyans from US — Afrikaner Refugee Program. Johannesburg, South Africa — South Africa has arrested and ordered the deportation of seven Kenyan nationals who were working at a center processing refugee applications for a United States resettlement program exclusively for white Afrikaners, according to official statements.
The arrests, which occurred on Tuesday in Johannesburg, followed intelligence reports indicating the Kenyans had entered the country on tourist visas and taken up employment, despite South Africa’s Home Affairs Department previously denying work visa applications for the positions.
The seven individuals will be banned from re — entering South Africa for five years. This action has heightened the diplomatic tensions between Pretoria and Washington, which have escalated throughout 2025 over US President Donald Trump’s controversial claims of “genocide “and racial persecution against white South Africans.
The US State Department, speaking to CNN, labeled interference in their refugee operations as “unacceptable “and demanded immediate clarification.
The Kenyans were employed by Amerikaners, a group of white South Africans, and RSC Africa, a Kenya — based refugee support organization operated by Church World Service. These organizations handle applications for Trump’s program, which has brought a small number of white South Africans to the US this year. South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation has raised concerns about the presence of foreign officials coordinating with undocumented workers, describing it as a serious issue regarding intent and diplomatic protocol.
Trump initiated the resettlement program in February through an executive order, cutting all US aid to South Africa and prioritizing Afrikaner refugees.
In September, he established a historic low refugee ceiling of 7,500 for 2026, reserving most spots for white South Africans. Scott Lucas, a professor of US and international politics at University College Dublin’s Clinton Institute, has previously criticized the contrast in treatment between white South African refugees and refugees of color from other countries as a “perverse honesty “about Trump’s conduct and worldview.
South Africa’s government strongly rejects the persecution allegations, with Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola noting no data supports these claims.
AfriForum and the Solidarity Movement, representing approximately 600,000 Afrikaner families, declined the refugee offer, expressing concern about emigration impacting their cultural identity.
The Afrikaner enclave of Orania also reiterated its commitment to its homeland.
Relations between the US and South Africa have deteriorated sharply in 2025, marked by diplomatic expulsions, boycotts, and social media attacks.
The situation remains tense, with further developments expected.
