Democrats are angry at the Trump administration for welcoming in refugees from South Africa after having enacted a pause on refugee admissions. That pause had a carveout in which the Secretary of State and the Department of Homeland Security could bring in refugees per their own discretion, but for open border advocates, allowing in South African white people is just racist. 

Conflicting reports from South Africa suggest that there is a disagreement over whether or not white South Africans are facing political persecution and targeted violence. But a new law that came into effect in 2025 has caused concern among land-owning white farmers. That law says that land can be expropriated by the government with no compensation given to its owners. 

Proponents of the law say that the process for expropriating the land is lengthy and no one will be deprived of land they are actively inhabiting, that the law simply redistributes unused land to the government. But for the 7.5% of the population who are white, who own the majority of the land that isn't owned by the government—which owns most of the land—there is concern that the government could simply steal their property. 

The reason for the law is to address something called "land inequality." In the 1990s, the national government, headed by Nelson Mandela, attempted to create a land restitution program where those black persons who were deprived of their land during apartheid, which was forced segregation, could get it back.

At that time, the policy was that black people could decide if they wanted cash payments or to get a portion of land. Most of those who had the option chose cash reparations and not land restitution. Now, 35 years later, there is still a land inequality and the current government is seeking to remedy that. One way to do that is by expropriating land from those who have it and giving it to those who don't.

And there've been farm murders. In 2022, there were more than 300 attacks carried out against farms and 50 murders. The level of violence is horrific: bludgeoning, rape, torture. And these are not isolated incidents but carried out by gangs. Elon Musk and others have called it a genocide. Others have said that's a preposterous classification and racist to say that black people are carrying out genocide against white people.

But white farmers who don't feel safe need only look to Zimbabwe. South Africa's neighbor Zimbabwe enacted a land expropriation law in 2000, leading to the disenfranchising of white farmers from their land, hyperinflation, food shortages, the takeover of white farms and murders of farmers. 

Yet to Democrats, none of this is enough to give the white farmers of South Africa refugee status. Instead of welcoming the refugees, as they've done for the 197,000 refugees who came to the US under the Biden administration, Democrats have been yelling that these 60 folks don't deserve resettlement. They cite the government of South Africa as the authority on whether or not these farmers are facing persecution. They claim that there's no "genocide," so there's no cause for alarm.

Advocates of the refugee program would rather see the kind of prioritization of racial and ethnic groups that Joe Biden implemented. Biden raised the refugee cap to 125,000 per year, imported 197,000 refugees during his four year term, and prioritized those from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, and Myanmar. 2024 saw the highest ever resettlement of refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean and the expansion of the asylum program to allow illegal immigrants to submit asylum applications even if they had not done so in a safe country between their own and the US.

Yet Democrats bemoaned the arrival of the 60 South Africans because of their race. The Trump administration was called racist for inviting in farmers from a minority ethnic group who were facing persecution in their home country. For Dems and leftists, the fact that these people are white denied them the status of refugees.

Colorado Rep. Steven Woodrow spoke up on Bluesky, saying that "Refugees from the Middle East were likened to a poisonous bowl of Skittles. Refugees from South Africa are welcomed with open arms. I can't figure out the reason for the disparate treatment. A real mystery for sure." The concern from the Trump administration over refugees from the Middle East was the lack of vetting that was being done before people were cleared to come to the US.

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen joined in the sudden cacophony of voices objecting to their resettlement, claiming that the white South Africans "do not need" the refugee status and that the title should be reserved for those "who face genuine dangers in other countries."

This is the same senator who flew to El Salvador to meet with illegal immigrant and MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he was deported. Van Hollen demanded access to the man who has since been found to have had ties to a human trafficker, who was the subject of multiple domestic violence complaints by his wife, and who was already slated for deportation in 2019.

"Trump and Musk are about to give refugee status to 60 white South Africans — who do not need it — while Trump locks up and deports refugees here who face genuine dangers in other countries," Van Hollen said. "This is the sick global apartheid policy being adopted by this lawless administration."

Given his dedication to criminal illegal immigrants, one would think that Van Hollen is all about making sure the United States is able to provide safe harbor for global citizens who are in need. But it turns out that in Van Hollen's book, white people facing persecution need not apply.

The same is true for the Episcopal Church, which has operated as an NGO, taking money to resettle refugees into the US. Resettling a handful of white people was a bridge too far for the Episcopal Church. 

"In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step," said the presiding bishop. "Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the US federal government." The Episcopal Church had been working with the US government on refugee resettlement for 40 years.

Those who refuse refugee status to people in need on the basis of their race betray themselves. They do not have the compassion or empathy they think they do. Instead, they are acting on a world view that automatically defines white people as oppressors and everyone else as victims without realizing that racism is not limited to any one race, but is a predilection for all of those who seek unwarranted power.