South Africa briefly held US government personnel on refugee assignment amid fraught relationship

By Priscilla Alvarez, Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — The South African government briefly held, then released, two US government employees on assignment in South Africa as part of the Trump administration’s bid to admit Afrikaners to the United States, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

The incident appeared to mark an escalation in the already-tenuous relationship between the United States and South Africa, which has rejected the premise of the Trump administration’s push to admit White South Africans as refugees. It also revealed some of the hiccups and hurdles US personnel have faced in the administration’s unprecedented focus on Afrikaners.

It isn’t clear why the US employees were questioned.

The US government is “seeking immediate clarification from the South African government” and it expects “full cooperation and accountability,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told CNN on Tuesday.

“We’ll have more to say once all the facts are confirmed, but the Trump Administration will always stand up for US interests, US personnel, and the rule of law,” he said. “Interfering in our refugee operations is unacceptable.”

CNN reached out to USCIS, which referred questions to the State Department. CNN also reached out to South Africa Home Affairs for comment.

President Donald Trump has justified the administration’s decision to resettle Afrikaners in the US by citing claims that “a genocide is taking place” in South Africa, adding that “White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.”

South African authorities have strongly denied such claims. CNN has investigated the claims of White “genocide” in South Africa and found no evidence to back them up.

Over the course of the year, the Trump administration has been conducting what are known as circuit rides to South Africa to interview Afrikaners for possible admission to the United States. That is done by US Citizenship and Immigration Services personnel who specialize in refugees.

This year, the US set an annual limit of 7,500 refugees—the majority of whom are White South Africans—slashing last year’s ceiling of 125,000 and excluding some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Almost all refugees have been blocked from entering the US, with the exception of White South Africans, during Trump’s second term.

This week, South African immigration officials visited an office in the country where the US was conducting refugee interviews of Afrikaner applicants. The South African officials briefly questioned two US government employees and briefly detained Kenyan nationals working with the State Department, sources said. All were released. The US is working with partners on the ground as part of the admissions process.

The Amerikaners, an organization that partners with the US to facilitate the admission of Afrikaners, posted on X: “Urgent, fam. USCIS location raided by South African officials.”

In May, Trump met with his South African counterpart, President Cyril Ramaphosa, in the Oval Office. Trump used the meeting to advance the fringe claims — which he’s amplified for months — that White farmers in South Africa are having their land seized and are being killed in massive numbers.

Trump’s fixation on the alleged mistreatment of White South Africans is not a new obsession; he discussed wanting to help White farmers displaced from their land at points during his first term.

The US also recently froze aid to the country, expelled its ambassador, and chose not to invite South Africa to take part in G20 events in the United States, marking the first time a country was outright excluded from them in its more than 20-year history.

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CNN’s Nimi Princewill contributed to this report.