US has let in 4,499 refugees since October – all but three were South African

USA: President Donald Trump’s overhaul of US refugee policies has created a major shift in the number and nationalities of people admitted to the country, US government data shows.

Since October 2025, 4,499 refugees were resettled in the US, according to the Refugee Processing Center. All, except three from Afghanistan, were South African.

In the last full fiscal year of the Biden administration, which started in October 2023, 125,000 people were accepted from 85 countries.

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Last year, Trump halted all refugee admissions, including for applicants from warzones, but allowed Afrikaners, a white minority group he said was persecuted, to seek resettlement. South Africa objected to his characterisation.

In announcing the change, Trump said it would help strengthen national security and public safety.

Priority was to be given to Afrikaner South Africans and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands”, according to an announcement.