FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 25, 2026
CONTACT: Rachel Dupree, [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On September 23rd, 2026, Senior officials of the Trump administration informed Congress that it intends to admit 17,500 refugees, primarily white South Africans (Afrikaners) in FY 2027.
This drastically low figure, is drawing swift backlash across the resettlement sector as it outlines racially motivated policy further cementing the new era of racial animus in the U.S., and the legacy of this Administration. The Presidential Determination on refugee admissions comes at a time when global displacement is at a historic high, with over 41.6 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. Instead of using this annual determination as a moment to set an example of humanitarian global leadership, the United States has once again abandoned its principles of welcoming refugees—including the over 100,000 refugees who were conditionally approved to resettle in 2025, but were unable to due to the ongoing refugee travel ban.
Said Fatima Saidi, director of We Are All America, “As a former asylee, I know that a refugee cap is never just a number; it is a life or death decision for families fleeing violence. Turning refugee admissions into a tool of racial favoritism violates the very heart of the 1980 Refugee Act. Resettlement should not be a political bargaining chip; it is a moral promise to protect human life. Shutting out the world’s most vulnerable abandons both those in danger and America’s integrity.”
Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “As inscribed on The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, on the Statue of Liberty, “ Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses, yearning to be free….” an essential affirmation, that the United States shall be a beacon of hope, a global leader in welcoming and belonging. Today, we have betrayed that promise with this Presidential Determination which grossly interprets refugee policy to enable outright discrimination. Prioritizing white Afrikaners who have no basis of persecution, discrimination, and perpetual violence is an outright affront to those facing well-documented, years-long struggles of human rights abuses across the world. From South Sudan, where 10 million people face displacement and conflict, the Congo to Gaza, this determination ignores multiple humanitarian crises. Continuing to shut out vulnerable Black, Brown, and Asian refugees is a dangerous escalation of racial animus and blatant disregard for the lives of so many living in imminent danger. Congress must hold the administration accountable to our legal and moral duty to protect families fleeing life-threatening persecution.”
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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 70 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 is a campaign of the National Partnership for New Americans, which 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
