United States official introduces new ‘Afrikaner refugee’ laws

US Congressman Troy Nehls has introduced the “Afrikaner” Act to the American legislature, which will give Afrikaans South Africans Priority-2 refugee status.

Nehls has agreed with US President Donald Trump’s views that the treatment of Afrikaners in South Africa is a human rights violation.

He said that the new bill would allow Afrikaners a pathway to the US to flee the alleged persecution the South African government has subjected them to.

The new Asylum for Farmers and Refugees in Crisis and Necessary Emigration Resettlement (Afrikaner) Act will give Priority-2 refugee status to members of the Afrikaner ethnic minority group.

Nehls said that Afrikaners have faced persecution based on their race, ethnicity, or ancestry.

If made law, the Act will give Priority-2 refugee status to the spouses, children, and parents of these individuals, provided that they live in South Africa.

Priority 2 status gives groups of special concern designated by the Department of State as having access to the refugee program by their circumstances and apparent need for resettlement.

Like Trump, Nehls referenced the enactment of the Expropriation Act earlier this year, which, he claims, allows the government to forcefully confiscate Afrikaners’ private property without compensation.

Another notable and deeply questionable part of the Afrikaner Act is that Nehls defines Afrikaners as rural farmers of European descent who comprise 7% of South Africa’s population.

These claims by the US government are not supported by evidence.

The South African government has taken great pains to clarify the Act for the United States, repeatedly pointing out that the Act only provides for expropriation without compensation in very specific circumstances and follows very strict processes.

Despite these efforts, the Trump administration has repeated the claim that the South African government is actively confiscating private land in the country.

The Department of Public Works recently said there has been no land expropriation over the last year.

Despite the new law allowing the state to expropriate land for the public good, it does not specifically target Afrikaners and gives landowners protections.

The bill’s definition of Afrikaners also ignores South Africa’s demographics outright.

The closest figure to the 7% population claimed in the bill is the 2022 Census identifying 4.5 million white South Africans, representing 7.3% of the population.

However, not all white South Africans are Afrikaners.

Looking at Afrikaans speakers, the Census identified 10.6% of the total population being first-language Afrikaans speakers. But not all Afrikaans speakers are Afrikaners.

Combining the data, approximately 60% of the white population are Afrikaans speakers (circa 2.7 million people).

At best, this reflects about 4.5% of the population—but again, not all of these individuals would identify as “Afrikaners”. Crucially, even those identifying as Afrikaners are not all farmers or rural farmers.

Trump earlier this year called the treatment of Afrikaners a “massive human rights violation.”

He used this belief as a basis to cut off all aid and assistance to South Africa and directed the United States to promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination.

“The Afrikaner population in South Africa has been experiencing unjust racial discrimination, and the situation continues to get worse by the day,” said Congressman Nehls.

“President Trump is right. How Afrikaners are being treated is a massive human rights violation.”

“My bill will offer Afrikaners a pathway to the United States to flee the persecution they’ve lived through, initiated by their own government.” 

Another one

This is the second piece of legislation introduced by American politicians aimed at South Africa.

US Congressman Ronny Jackson also introduced the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025, calling for a review of the world’s largest economy’s relationship with South Africa.

Jackson said that the Bill will help advance Trump’s foreign policy agenda by giving him the tools to impose sanctions on South African officials supporting America’s enemies, such as China, Russia and Iran.

Jackson, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus, received support from another congressman, John James.

“The South African government and the ANC have continued to consistently undermine US national security interests and in recent years have intentionally aligned with Beijing, Moscow and Tehran and pursued an anti-Israel agenda,” said James.

Jackson’s Bill identifies eight key problem areas with the ANC and South Africa.

1. The ANC’s policies are inconsistent with South Africa’s stated policy of non-alignment in international affairs.
2. The South African Government has a history of siding with malign actors, including Hamas, a United States-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and a proxy of the Iranian regime, and continues to pursue closer ties with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation.
3. The South African Government’s continued support of Hamas.
4. Members of the South African government delivering “antisemitic and antiIsrael” statements and actions following the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
5. The South African Government and the ANC maintain close relations with the Russian Federation, which has been accused of perpetrating war crimes in Ukraine and indiscriminately undermining human rights.
6. The South African Government’s interactions with the PRC Government and ANC interactions with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which are committing gross violations of human rights in the Xinjiang province and implementing economically coercive tactics around the globe.
7. The ANC-led South African Government’s history of substantially mismanaging a range of state resources and often being “proven incapable of effectively delivering public services, threatening the South African people and the South African economy”.
8. The most recent comments by former ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, describing President Trump as ‘‘extreme,’’ and characterising him as a white supremacist.

The Afrikaaner Act can be found below:

The US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025 can be found below: