Refugee Council USA Denounces Trump Administration’s Racial Animus and Persistent Discriminatory Pattern of Unlawful Actions that Harm Refugees

Washington, DC – Yesterday, senior Trump administration officials met with Congress to discuss the upcoming Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions (PD) for Fiscal Year 2027. The September 23rd meeting served as the consultations with Congress that must precede the issuance of the refugee admissions PD, mandated by the Refugee Act of 1980.

Reports indicate that the Trump administration is planning to admit up to 17,500 individuals, “primarily” Afrikaners (white South Africans), through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). In FY 2026, Afrikaners have represented 95% of USRAP admissions. At a time when the scale of displacement includes more than 41.6 million refugees worldwide, the planned refugee admissions target allocated for Afrikaners leaves stranded the most at-risk refugees in need of protection, such as from Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Burma, Ukraine, and Venezuela. The planned PD also explicitly leaves in place the indefinite and unlawful refugee ban, wrongfully and effectively ending the statutory framework for resettling refugees established by Congress, as well as the expanded travel ban that also cemented the entry suspension of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program that supported Afghans who assisted the U.S. mission.

“The Trump administration has corrupted the U.S. resettlement program for a harmful ideological agenda that violates our moral call to welcome and our legal obligations under U.S. law. Turning our backs on refugees is turning our backs on our own humanity,” said John Slocum, Executive Director of RCUSA. “A resettlement program that admits only one population at the exclusion of tens of thousands of refugees at risk around the world does not constitute meaningful refugee protection. The United States is abandoning Burmese and Sudanese families fleeing brutal regimes and war zones, Congolese and Eritrean survivors of rape and ethnic violence, Afghan allies promised safety after risking their lives alongside U.S. forces, and countless others, including families and loved ones waiting for reunification. Why is this administration intending to resettle only Afrikaners? That is the question every member of Congress should be asking – and demanding an answer – from the Trump administration. Elected officials and Americans across the country insist that we should continue providing safe haven on a nondiscriminatory basis to those fleeing war and persecution. The American people deserve better.”

RCUSA calls for a full resumption of refugee processing and resettlement under a nondiscriminatory framework to protect the most at-risk refugees. These guardrails must be coupled with necessary investments in the capacity to welcome, including full restoration of food, medical, and other public assistance to resettled refugees. At minimum, these should include steps to resettle:

• The refugees who had been conditionally-approved for resettlement to the United States and had been left stranded, as of January 2025 when the refugee ban went into effect, such as Rohingya refugees fleeing genocide in Burma.
• Afghan allies stranded abroad, such as those still located at Camp As Salyiyah (CAS) and those referred to (and eligible for) the Afghan P-2 program, at risk due to their U.S. affiliation.
• Families for reunification to the United States, such as via the Follow-to-Join Program.
• Persecuted religious minorities, through the Lautenberg Program, among them Christian, Jewish, and Baha’i communities – including those currently at increased risk amid escalating violence in Iran – as well as certain particularly vulnerable refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 
• U.S.-Affiliated Iraqis, such as employees of U.S. non-governmental organizations and media organizations or certain family members of U.S. citizens, green card holders, and others, under the Iraqi Direct Access Program.
• Particularly vulnerable children through the U.S. Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) program, which provides the only lifesaving option for refugee children who do not have a parent or relative available to provide for their long-term care.

RCUSA’s previous statement on the FY 2027 Presidential Determination ahead of congressional consultations is available here.

Media Contact: Mariam Sayeed, msayeed@rcusa.org 

RCUSA is a diverse coalition advocating for just and humane laws and policies, and the promotion of dialogue and communication among government, civil society, and those who need protection and welcome. Individual RCUSA members do not all address all refugee-related issues, nor do all individual members approach common refugee-related issues identically.

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