September 29, 2026 E-Alert by Elaine Gross, Founder and President Emerita. Click here to view the e-alert in your browser.
Elaine Gross, Founder and President Emerita of ERASE Racism, today called on Congressional candidates on Long Island to take a position on President Trump’s ban on legal refugee admissions, except primarily for white South Africans, specifically Afrikaners. The decades-long refugee admissions program, which has long had bipartisan support, provides a legal way for refugees fleeing persecution in other countries to be vetted and, if approved, resettled in this country.
On January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, President Trump imposed a ban on the program through an executive order titled “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program.” On October 30, 2025, the Trump administration announced an exception to the ban: it would limit the number of refugees admitted to the United States to 7,500 – a dramatic decline from the US target of 125,000 in 2024 – and they would mostly be white South Africans. As the Associated Press reported at the time, the federal notice “made no mention of any other specific groups to be admitted besides the white South Africans, known also as Afrikaners.”
On May 26, 2026, the Trump administration announced that it would admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the United States as refugees this year, while essentially continuing to ban people from other countries. The US State Department issued data on August 5, 2026, revealing that the United States has accepted 10,258 refugees in this fiscal year, all but three of whom are South Africans.
President Trump has now reportedly informed Congress that he plans again to limit refugee admissions in the new fiscal year, starting October 1, to an additional 17,500, primarily Afrikaners from South Africa. The president is only required to inform Congress, but clearly the president can make changes during the new fiscal year, as he did this year.
It’s important to note in this context that it was Afrikaners who led the South African government after World War II when it imposed apartheid. AsNPR Illinois reports, “In 1948, the Afrikaner-led government began to implement apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation that benefited whites. Black people and other non-white South Africans were displaced and dispossessed. Apartheid ended in 1994 with the formation of a new, democratic government led by anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.”
“By his actions, President Trump is using the legal refugee admissions policy primarily to bring to the United States members of the Afrikaner community, which implemented white supremacy through apartheid in South Africa,” said Elaine Gross. “Candidates for Congress on Long Island need to make clear whether they support this federal policy. It’s a question that requires a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but that answer will speak volumes about each candidate.”
Elaine Gross, Founder and President Emerita of ERASE Racism, today called on Congressional candidates on Long Island to take a position on President Trump’s ban on legal refugee admissions, except primarily for white South Africans, specifically Afrikaners. The decades-long refugee admissions program, which has long had bipartisan support, provides a legal way for refugees fleeing persecution in other countries to be vetted and, if approved, resettled in this country.
On January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, President Trump imposed a ban on the program through an executive order titled “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program.” On October 30, 2025, the Trump administration announced an exception to the ban: it would limit the number of refugees admitted to the United States to 7,500 – a dramatic decline from the US target of 125,000 in 2024 – and they would mostly be white South Africans. As the Associated Press reported at the time, the federal notice “made no mention of any other specific groups to be admitted besides the white South Africans, known also as Afrikaners.”
On May 26, 2026, the Trump administration announced that it would admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the United States as refugees this year, while essentially continuing to ban people from other countries. The US State Department issued data on August 5, 2026, revealing that the United States has accepted 10,258 refugees in this fiscal year, all but three of whom are South Africans.
President Trump has now reportedly informed Congress that he plans again to limit refugee admissions in the new fiscal year, starting October 1, to an additional 17,500, primarily Afrikaners from South Africa. The president is only required to inform Congress, but clearly the president can make changes during the new fiscal year, as he did this year.
It’s important to note in this context that it was Afrikaners who led the South African government after World War II when it imposed apartheid. AsNPR Illinois reports, “In 1948, the Afrikaner-led government began to implement apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation that benefited whites. Black people and other non-white South Africans were displaced and dispossessed. Apartheid ended in 1994 with the formation of a new, democratic government led by anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.”
“By his actions, President Trump is using the legal refugee admissions policy primarily to bring to the United States members of the Afrikaner community, which implemented white supremacy through apartheid in South Africa,” said Elaine Gross. “Candidates for Congress on Long Island need to make clear whether they support this federal policy. It’s a question that requires a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but that answer will speak volumes about each candidate.”
