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In November 2025, the Trump administration launched a refugee resettlement program for white South Africans. The Afrikaners, as they're called, are an ethnic minority in South Africa. Last year, reports began surfacing that Black South Africans were terrorizing Afrikaner farmers, driving them from their land, setting fire to their property, even killing them and leaving their mangled bodies in mass graves. For the first few months of the second Trump administration, this was a major story. Democrats questioned the legitimacy of the accounts and accused Republicans of hypocrisy letting in white refugees while trying to secure the southern border. The White House stayed the course, with President Trump going so far as to confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the issue in the Oval Office. All of which makes it so much more shocking that the story has all but disappeared. I'm Daily Wire DC Bureau Chief Tim Rice, and this is Behind the Story. Today, we're taking a second look at the Afrikaner refugees. How many have been resettled? How many are still stuck in South Africa? And what happened to this story? Why did it disappear? Joining us to answer those questions and more is Daily Wire immigration reporter Jenny Ter.

Jenny recently took a slight detour from her usual beat to shed some light on this important issue. What she found was quite shocking and may have even nudged the Trump administration back into action on this issue. The headline was, leftist group leaves white South African refugees out to dry while fighting Trump in court. Let's Go Behind the Story. Jenny, thank you again for joining me.

Thanks for having me, Tim.

So I, I don't even really know where to start with this one. Why don't I— why don't you just like take us back? You called me a couple weeks ago to pitch the story. Why don't we just start there? Like start with your original pitch? Because it was— it caught me so off guard because frankly, I had kind of forgotten about this story and what you told me shocked me back into awareness.

Totally. So, you know, I had learned about this situation of just the South African refugees being kind of left to their own devices. And there was a story that had been done in the Free Press before about what it was like here in the United States, their poor living conditions, that they were living in drug-infested neighborhoods, that they were just in really, really dilapidated areas of the country where crime was high. And a lot of the nonprofits helping them weren't helping them. Now, I started to kind of peel away at that issue, and what I learned was that there is a whole class of refugees who have been approved to come to the United States and have been given that status who are stuck in South Africa and have been for months. Um, so they call themselves the limbo cases. They were told by this leftist group, the Church World Service, uh, which is tasked by the United States with helping with refugee resettlement, and they handle it on both ends. So they'll help when they're in South Africa and then when they arrive in the U.S. In a lot of cases, this group has advocated against the Trump administration refugee policy and has taken the Trump administration to court over it because they say that the Trump administration shouldn't be prioritizing that class of refugees and they think that they're leaving behind others in doing so.

So while there's this apparent conflict of interest, they're the ones who are supposed to be helping these refugees get here. Now, what's happened with a lot of these people is that they were approved to come. They received approval from the United States and CWS was helping facilitate their travel to the United States, booked their tickets and said, you are going to be leaving. Usually a lot of them said they were told within days. And so what happened then is you had this group of people that sold their belongings, sold their cars, homes, quit their jobs, uh, basically were preparing to leave their whole life and livelihoods behind. And then the rug was pulled out from under them because this organization, Church World Service, let them know at the very last second that their trip was canceled. That they would have updates on their case in the future and would be working to reschedule their travel. But here they are months later, still no answers from Church World Service or the United States government.

So there is a lot to unpack there, and I wanted to talk about the sort of the two different groups of refugees— those that are in limbo there and those that are sort of falling on hard times here. But let's put a pin in that because I think The thing that struck me the most, and I think what's probably striking our listeners the most, is that this group, as you said, not only a leftist group, but a group that is actively not just opposed to, but suing, right? Like suing the Trump administration to block this policy is also responsible for facilitating the beneficiaries of this policy. How, how on earth does that work?

Yeah, so the Trump administration has tried to actually, you know, really gut the refugee resettlement NGO infrastructure, and they tried to defund these organizations and cut their contracts. But because they have such legal strength, they fought back, and so far the Trump administration, because of these court orders, is being forced to continue to keep them as part of this refugee resettlement program.

So let's talk about the first group, those who are still in South Africa. I'm almost at a loss for words. Like, how, how do they do that? How do, how is that possible? Because there's room here, right? I think that's the important thing. Like, it's not, this is, am I wrong? This is, this group, Christian World Services, is making this decision, right? It's not that there's something happening in the States that is being communicated to them, right? They're just telling them that they have to stay.

So it's, it's partially, you know, the US government that has to approve these cases and process them. And then it's Church World Service that's relaying information to these individuals and also helping them throughout the refugee resettlement process, which includes for a lot of these people that are now left behind, their medical evaluations, they expire after a period of 6 months. So that means for these people who a lot of times now have sold off their cars, sometimes have to travel hours away, get hotel rooms, redo vaccines, redo testing, spend a full day with the United Nations workers to get this done. But Church World Service, in that case, I've heard from several of these Afrikaner refugees, has also left them hanging there. So They're not even getting information on rescheduling those appointments so that they can stay up to date with their cases and say, we'll be ready whenever. It's almost like this whole thing is being stalled. And what's really insane to think about is how much the refugee program has been cut. And so you would think that there's more resources for this. Like you said, it seems like we can take in these people.

The Trump administration cut the refugee program, said We're no longer having annual admissions of 125,000 people. He started out and said 7,500, that's the cap, mainly Afrikaners from South Africa. So initially that was a major, major change to the program that again, you would think would free up resources, people, the processing times maybe would've gotten quicker. Right. But it just hasn't. And now the Trump administration is saying they're expanding the program again to accommodate Afrikaners and saying, we're going to add about 10,000 to that cap. So now it's about 17,000 that they're going to let in.

The reason your story, I think, was so impactful is because you spoke to so many of these people. And so talk to us a little bit about that. How did you, how did you find them? What sort of things? Maybe we can talk a little bit more about the ones who are here in, in the States, because you kind of already summarized what the— what, what it's like for those who are stuck in South Africa. But I mean, yeah, just across the board, what's— what were those conversations like and how did they come about?

Yeah, so originally I had gotten into contact with a doctor in Pennsylvania who's basically taken matters into his own hands, and he's created his own nonprofit to help resettle some of these refugees. And in some cases, he is helping them through his own means, trying to house them, trying to find them all the resources they can get, even getting them jobs at his hospital, because he saw the writing on the wall and he saw that they were not getting the help that they needed. Honestly, it breaks my heart, um, some of these people's stories. I mean, I spent hours on the phone with these people who have detailed very gruesome of attacks they faced, threats, the life that they live, which is not a life. I mean, these people are living basically in fortified homes, like they're living behind a wall, behind security. They're constantly paranoid. And even the ones that come here are living in paranoia still because it's almost like a PTSD thing of like, oh, there's a delivery guy at the door. Like I don't know who that could be. So there's so much, um, there's so much there, uh, when it comes to these people and the challenges they faced.

I mean, one of the mothers who's been trying to come here with her family, her daughter was raped, um, while she was working at a local grocery store, and her, uh, her alleged rapist was Black and this is, you know, something that is very common. The white people there are just seen as less than. They have trouble getting jobs, they have trouble getting support from law enforcement. And in this case, that's exactly what happened, because what she told me was that they basically said— the police said, there's nothing we can really do, she really brought this upon herself, essentially. And that seems to be the tone there. Is that you're white, you can't be in a position of power at our company. So a lot of these people are leaving because they know their kids have no future. Their kids are at school, they're getting a phone call saying a riot has broken out, a racial riot, and you need to come get your kid before things escalate. Um, people don't go out at night, people don't have social circles. They're very much living in just in paranoia and fear. And it's very, very sad to hear because also they feel like the mainstream media and they feel like some politicians, mostly Democrats, are really downplaying, uh, what they're up against.

We have to acknowledge, I mean, we haven't, I think, you know, everyone, all of our listeners sort of know the general history, right? But it's impossible to discuss this without considering the history of apartheid and South Africa's incredibly fraught racial history. Um, and I think, you know, I don't think it's unfair to say that among Americans, and as you said, certainly those on the left, there is kind of a— even if no one says it out loud, there is this sense that, well, in South Africa, right, people have vague ideas of apartheid— white people bad, white people were the oppressors, the Black people were the oppressed— which of course was true for a very long time. And I think what Americans don't realize is just how much things have gone in the opposite direction. It's not just that apartheid ended and race relations sort of normalized. And right, you see this when, when these stories started coming out last year, the, the gangs that were attacking the Afrikaner farms often were chanting, kill the boer, the boers being the original white, uh, colonizers of, of South Africa. And of course, right, these are not now Look, I mean, they very— I don't want to speak in a generalization.

Apartheid was not that long ago, right? It was 32 years ago it ended, 31. Um, there is of course a chance that some of these families are descended from people who were somehow implicated in apartheid South Africa, but I mean, at this point in time, to say that these farming families are somehow culpable in that is, is a little, you know, it's not right. These are young families often. These are poor families. These are not folks that were running apartheid South Africa and then just sort of decamped to the fields and are, you know, like, this is, these are just like regular people who are now, again, like clearly the people that are attacking them are conceiving of this as some sort of racial retribution.

When you talk about reparations, I mean, those are not this generation that they're trying to punish, but they are punishing this generation and they are tying them back to, you know, slave owners or whatever it is, and talk about white supremacy and talk about DEI and all those things. I mean, these Afrikaners are very much aware of that, and, you know, they want to become part of an American life. They want to contribute, they want to work, they want to— I mean, they already speak the language, which is very, helpful for them and they want to start a life here. But the other situation going on is that the NGOs that are helping them in many states here are not actually helping them get there. And they're finding that in a lot of these states, especially blue states, they're finding that these organizations are basically wanting to put them on like the welfare gravy train. Like they just look around and they see that First of all, when they're going to meet with caseworkers at these NGOs, or they're trying to find homes, or they're trying to find a job with them, they're not getting much help.

And then they look around at who else they've helped and they see, you know, maybe an apartment full of Somalis who are just sitting around all day and, you know, some in some way collecting an income, but they don't wanna be like that.

Right.

They want to contribute.

Well, and I think this is, this is one of the most confusing aspects of this saga for me, which is, I guess it's easy to see why the NGOs just sort of take them and drop them in like Minneapolis, right? Because that's what these NGOs do. They see a refugee, they say, here you are, here's a high-rise, you know, low-income apartment building. Move your family in. This is the welfare office. This is how you get on EBT. This is what they're used to. Two things make this shocking. One is what you just lined out, which is that these are people who are, you know, often more educated, more ready to assimilate, speak the language, and are actively saying, we don't want this. But the second thing that's crazy to me is that these are in a large part, right? By and large, they're farmers, they're agricultural workers. This is a problem that we have in our country. We don't have enough— why aren't, why aren't we getting these people to, to Iowa, to farmland? And I think this, this gets to the second— this gets to a bigger question, which is Why isn't the Trump administration more involved in this?

Yeah, well, it's a good point because I've, I have heard stories of some of them who are placed in areas of the country where their, their, uh, their background is, is farming, like you said, and they're nowhere near farmland. Um, but a lot of them too that I've spoken with are, uh, you know, software engineers, salespeople. Business owners. Um, they've worked in international companies, so a lot of their skills can translate here. But I'll give you one example that I found really shocking was that one of these families was brought to Chicago and they were placed by an NGO in housing where they were surrounded by, uh, basically illegal immigrants in their neighborhoods, at every store they went to. And when they tried to find jobs, they were rejected because they didn't speak Spanish. And they just started thinking, what did we just come to? And kind of lost hope in, like, the future that they had here and ended up taking matters into their own hands and moving to Georgia where they could find a job that would see their English language skills as a benefit, um, which is just shocking to see. But we know Chicago, obviously, you know, this is the, this is the result of Chicago taking in so many illegal immigrants during the Biden administration that some areas have just become unrecognizable and have been completely transformed.

I mean, this woman who I spoke with said that, you know, she didn't come here to be in Mexico, like, she came here to be in the United States. And that's just not what Chicago was. But, you know, she's much happier in Georgia now where her husband works. Her daughter's there. She's 15. And they can have a better life and a better quality of life. And they really just didn't get a lot of help from the NGOs. And again, they took matters into their own hands. And that's kind of the way these people are, too. They're very much like, pull yourself up. From your bootstraps type of people. And again, the Trump administration sees that as a benefit, but I'm not sure if they're aware of all of these issues going on that I think, you know, is the reason why our reporting is so important here is because maybe this can get to the right people. And I think that's why these Afrikaners are really trusting of us and want to speak out because they want the Trump administration to know about these challenges that they're facing.

Yeah. And it's, I mean, I think you just said it, it's such a great point. Like, you know, one of the reasons that the Trump administration felt, you know, decided to pare down the refugee resettlement program was because it had sort of become this like permanent welfare merry-go-round. Right. And what we have here is a group of refugees who are refugees in the truest sense of the word and who literally are saying again, again, in English that all they want. That's what they need the help with. They need help resettling. They need help selling off their lives in South Africa, getting through the paperwork and the processes to resettle in the United States legally, getting help finding a house, and then they will take it from there. And in some cases are, if these groups— so again, it just sort of seems like it go— I mean, to bring it back to the, to the, to the NGO, the Christian whatever, um, you know, it seems this would be— you would think this would be an easy job for them, right? Instead of for a group that's used to bringing refugees in and then having to continue to help them, you would think just, you know, from a logistical perspective on an individual level, moving your life across the world is hard.

But for a group that professionally does this, moving 6,500 individuals across the world, then you just kind of drop off and leave. Should not be— you would think that they would be jumping at the chance, which again, just sort of makes me think that it really— you can't understate I don't want to accuse them of anything legal, you know, but you, you know, it's hard not to think of how they're slow walking what seems like it should be a very easy thing. And the fact that they're vocally opposed to this program and fighting it. And it's hard not to think of those two things at the same time.

Totally. And it seems like the sense I get from speaking with these Afrikaners who have already landed here is that like these NGOs basically are not set up to help people from the developed world who have skills, who speak English and know how to navigate life. Because I'll give you another example, the videos that they're being shown, it's like a cultural awareness training thing that they're given. And they're shown videos on how to assimilate to American life. I mean, these Afrikaners are watching videos about how to use the toilet, about make sure you shower regularly, make sure you know how to clean an apartment. It's like, if people are being told that, and they have to be told that, who are we bringing here and what are they contributing to this country?

And like, these people are basically Australians, so it's like, wait, what? Like, they're, they're showing up and it's like, this is, yeah, this is indoor plumbing. They're like, we know, we just, we're just talking about getting killed. Like, we're, we're familiar with the, with the flush toilet. Like, So, you know, last question and then I'll let you go. What do you see? You're deep in this now, and I know it's something that I, you know, I know that you're going to stay on and we're going to stay on it at The Daily Wire because it is such an important story. But what do you think happens next? We just saw a little movement with the Trump administration. What are your— what you're, you know, you probably know better than most. What do you think is going to happen in the next 3, 6 months?

I'm trying to, through my reporting, make them more aware about what the actual issues are and which groups they stem from.

Jenny Tayer is The Daily Wire's immigration reporter. Go check out her stories on the Africana Resettlement Program and be on the lookout for more stories, uh, on that subject and more from Jenny on immigration and all sorts of other things every day on dailywire.com. Jenny, thank you again for joining me.

Thank you.