Priority for English speakers, white South Africans, and Europeans opposing migration policies would reshape America's refugee program under federal agency proposals The New York Times obtained. Traditional humanitarian protection would shift toward Trump's immigration vision – assisting predominantly white individuals claiming persecution while excluding most others, The New York Times reports. State and Homeland Security officials presented these plans during April and July after Trump ordered agencies to evaluate refugee resettlement's benefit to American interests, The New York Times reported. Sources familiar with planning confirmed no proposals have been dismissed, though approval timelines remain unset.
Applicant assimilation capacity would receive new emphasis through mandatory courses on "American history and values" and "respect for cultural norms." Europeans "targeted for peaceful expression of views online, such as opposition to mass migration or support for 'populist' political parties" would gain priority – apparent reference to Alternative for Germany, whose leaders minimized Holocaust significance and disparaged foreigners. Trump enacted several proposals before submission, including reduced admissions and Afrikaner priority status – South Africa's former apartheid-controlling white minority. Trump claims Afrikaners face racial persecution despite South African officials' disputes and police statistics showing no elevated white vulnerability to violent crime.
America's refugee acceptance generated excessive diversity according to submitted documents, stating "The sharp increase in diversity has reduced the level of social trust essential for the functioning of a democratic polity." Applications from hundreds of thousands already in the pipeline should be canceled, many having completed extensive security checks. Agencies proposed restricting numbers in high-immigrant communities to prevent "the concentration of non-native citizens."
"It reflects a preexisting notion among some in the Trump administration as to who are the true Americans," said Barbara L. Strack, former refugee affairs division chief at Citizenship and Immigration Services during Bush, Obama and Trump administrations. "And they think it's white people and they think it's Christians." Plans include intensive security vetting with expanded DNA testing and slashing annual admissions to 7,500 – drastically reduced from Biden's 125,000 limit.
Latest proposals call for US embassies making refugee referrals instead of the United Nations, enabling greater American pipeline control, according to a third draft The New York Times obtained. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau defended the approach at last month's UN General Assembly, stating "Saying that the process is susceptible to abuse is not being xenophobic, it is not being a mean or bad person."
