FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 31, 2025
CONTACT: Rachel Dupree, [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Trump Administration released its Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions. Without appropriate consultation from Congress, the administration plans to drastically reduce the annual refugee admissions cap to 7,500—a 600 percent decrease from the previous administration’s level—and will consist mostly of White South Africans (Afrikaners). This annual determination is a chance for America to show national leadership in our global community, and instead, it is now a racially motivated disservice to the core principles of the 1980 Refugee Act. In addition to the critically low admissions cap, the administration announced an “English-only” mandate for incoming applicants.
Said Fatima Saidi, director of We Are All America, “As an asylee, I know what it means to have your life hang in the balance of policies set thousands of miles away. Each refugee cap is not just a policy; it is a life-or-death decision for families fleeing violence and persecution. Setting the admissions goal at 7,500 would be the lowest in history and a historic failure of America’s humanitarian tradition. Refugee resettlement is not charity; it is a promise we make to uphold dignity, protect human life, and honor the values our country was built on. To turn our back now is to abandon both people in need and our own moral leadership.”
Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “With the largest and most well-resourced immigration system in the world, America is expected to be a leader in welcoming, belonging, and integration. However, with the recent Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions, it is clear that this administration aims to punish our planet’s most vulnerable populations and enable de facto discrimination.
The alarming announcement of increased resettlement of white Afrikaners to a country purging itself of Black, Brown, Asian, and immigrant communities is a dangerous escalation of racially motivated policymaking. Congress must be appropriately consulted on refugee admissions and resettlement, and we call on federal lawmakers to exercise their right to oversight and hold the executive branch accountable to our historical commitment to offering refuge to those who face life threatening persecution and displacement due to political instability and climate related disasters.”
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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of 86 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 42 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.
We Are All America works to uphold and strengthen our nation’s commitment to welcome and protect those seeking freedom, safety and refuge in the United States. We organize people across religious and cultural differences to build inclusive communities where we all belong. See our website for more information at weareallus.org
