Nearly 70,000 South Africans seek refuge in the US after Trump's offer of asylum

The South African Chamber of Commerce in the United States (SACCUSA) reported that nearly 70,000 South Africans registered on its website after Donald Trump's administration opened the possibility of admitting members of the Afrikaner community as refugees.

The measure originated with an executive order signed in February, in which Trump alleged that Afrikaners, mainly descended from Dutch settlers, are "victims of unjust racial discrimination" in South Africa. The initiative seeks to offer these people the possibility of resettlement in U.S. territory under humanitarian protection.

A proposal with a strong response

The increase in applications coincides with a growing deterioration in relations between South Africa and the United States. Tension was heightened after the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, enacted a law that allows the state to expropriate land without compensation, as long as it is in the public interest. The legislation was backed by social movements calling for sweeping land reform, more than three decades after the end of apartheid.

Trump's response was immediate: he called the measure a form of state discrimination against whites. He extended his offer of refuge to all South African farmers, describing the country as "a bad place to be right now." Days later, his government announced a cut in financial aid to South Africa.

The confrontation reached a new level when Washington expelled the South African ambassador, while then-Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused him of being a "race-baiting politician."