By Priscilla Alvarez

(CNN) — The Trump administration has informed Congress it intends to accept 17,500 refugees, primarily White South Africans, in fiscal year 2027, according to a report submitted Tuesday and obtained by CNN.

President Donald Trump has previously said that nearly all refugees admitted to the United States would be White South Africans, radically reshaping a decades-long program that had largely serviced people fleeing war, persecution or other dangers.

Refugee advocates argue that the administration’s focus on one group has excluded vulnerable populations worldwide. South African authorities have strongly denied claims of White genocide.

In its report to Congress, the State Department said admissions will “primarily be Afrikaners from South Africa,” arguing that they face discrimination in their home country.

“The United States anticipates that Afrikaners from South Africa will fully assimilate into the United States in a manner that preserves taxpayer resources for U.S. citizens and does not anticipate other countries resettling Afrikaners,” the report states.

Resettlement under the proposed ceiling is expected to cost approximately $500 million, according to the report.

The administration increased the refugee cap for South Africans earlier this year to 17,500 from a limit of 7,500 for all refugees, informing Congress of the change through an emergency determination.

CNN previously reported the refugee program, largely shuttered for the rest of the world, has sparked diplomatic spats, prompted a scramble to open a processing site in South Africa, generated highly unusual requests from applicants and produced high denial rates, due in part to criminal records among some applicants, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the program.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.