America’s long-established sanctuary program got a new wrinkle this year as President Donald Trump embarked upon a game of diplomatic one-upsmanship with the Republic of South Africa. The conflict has its origins in claims of genocide at the hands of the Black majority against its formerly dominant White minority. This bilateral bickering has escalated to an international scale, involving the intergovernmental forum G20, designed to establish a level platform for developing nations in the global economy.
In February, President Donald Trump initiated an edict officially known as Mission South Africa, paving the way for resettlement for White Afrikaners in the United States under a newly implemented refugee program. This mandate was rationalized by claims that this population is being victimized by Black South Africans, who make up perhaps 81 percent of its residents.
Upon returning to office, Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14204. Citing what he claimed was systemic violence and race-based discrimination, he stated it would “…promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.”
It also called for an end to the considerable financial aid to South Africa, in excess of $400 million annually. Right-wing entities such as the Heritage Foundation have estimated that America has contributed an estimated $6 billion over the past 10 years.
Afrikaners are the racial minority of Dutch, French, and German descent who have dominated that country’s cultural, economic, political, and social destiny since their arrival in the 17th century. Since the end of the apartheid regime of racial separation at the close of the millennium, allegations of anti-Afrikaner genocide and overt racism at the hands of their indigenous Black African countrymen have been raised.
By May, several dozen Afrikaners entered the U.S. in Washington, D.C., to eventually be settled in various locations across the country.
In October, President Trump boycotted the G20 summit in South Africa, meant to foster economic cooperation between the European Union, the African Union, and the Western Hemisphere. He again lamented the South African practice of “…killing White people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them.”
His absence is all the more significant since it was the first year that it was held on the African continent. On top of this, Trump has declared that he will not invite South Africa to the conference to be held in Miami when the United States hosts the summit next year.
Tentative plans are to have the event at the Doral Resort and Spa, which is owned by Trump.