The administration of US President Donald Trump will welcome more than two dozen white refugees from South Africa - an unusual step after Washington canceled most refugee admission operations, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA, citing White House documents in its possession.
The first South African refugees will arrive on Monday at Dulles International Airport in Washington. They are expected to be greeted by a government delegation, including the deputy secretary of state and representatives from the Department of Health.
The flight will be the first of several such flights, said Trump's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
The White House refugee program was paused by President Donald Trump in February. He stopped arrivals from Afghanistan, Iraq, most of sub-Saharan Africa and all of Latin America, but issued an executive order prioritizing the admission of white South Africans who claim to have faced discrimination in their home country, the AP recalls.
The US president's administration has openly taken a hostile stance towards South Africa, which is the homeland of close Trump adviser Elon Musk and is also the rotating chair of the G-20 of developed and developing countries.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted the G-20 foreign ministers' meeting in Johannesburg in March because its main agenda focused on diversity, inclusion and climate change. Rubio also expelled South Africa's ambassador to the United States in March over comments that the Trump administration interpreted as accusing the president of promoting white supremacy.