White South Africans who come to the United States as refugees could get up to $4,500 per person in initial federal support beginning Oct. 1, nearly double the current amount, four people familiar with the change in policy told The Washington Post.
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The assistance — up from about $2,400 — would be the highest level to date, one of the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.
President Donald Trump froze refugee admissions from around the world after taking office in 2025. But weeks later, he launched a program to bring South Africans of European-descended Afrikaner ethnicity into the U.S. as refugees.
The boost in taxpayer-funded aid would hypothetically be available to any incoming refugees, but South Africans have made up more than 99 percent of refugee arrivals this year.
Trump said Afrikaners suffer violent persecution in majority-Black South Africa, a claim South Africa’s government vehemently denies.
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The federal aid goes to resettlement groups to pay for housing, food and other basic needs. Unspent funds go to the refugee in cash.
The refugee office within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the program, did not respond to a request for comment.
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