Episcopal Church won't resettle white Afrikaner refugees in US

David Matthews, New York Daily News on May 12, 2025

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The Episcopal Church said Monday it would not help resettle white South African refugees in the U.S. because of its “commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.”

The denomination cited its moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa classified as refugees by President Donald Trump’s administration as the reason behind the decision to withdraw from the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church — told church membership the administration had made it known they would be expected to resettle white Afrikaners as part of previously agreed-to deal.

The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an opponent of apartheid is South Africa, was one of the leaders of the global Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part. The church completely divested from companies that do business in the county in the 1980s.

“In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step,” Rowe wrote in a letter. “Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government.”

“It has been painful to watch one group of refugees (the Afrikaners), selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years,” Rowe wrote.

Shortly after the letter was published a charter plane with 59 Afrikaners landed at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C.

Rowe said it would use its resources to help immigrants and refugees in other ways. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump froze most refugee programs and stopped payments to organizations.

A number of faith-based refugee resettlement groups are suing the administration.

However, the administration also fast-tracked refugee status to white South Africans, who jumped ahead of other would-be refugees who had been undergoing years of vetting and processing.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who was part of the delegation that received the new refugees at Dulles, said they were accepted because they would be “assimilated easily.”

The South Africa’s Black-led government and many white religious leaders in the country have denied the Trump administration’s claims of white Afrikaners facing discrimination in the country.

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