In an interview on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s policy of prioritizing Afrikaner refugees from South Africa. This comes as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to visit the United States, amidst heightened tensions regarding land expropriation and violence in South Africa.
The administration’s stance has drawn criticism due to increased restrictions on refugee admissions overall. President Trump has publicly asserted that a “genocide” is underway against white South Africans, a claim that typically requires a legal determination by the State Department.
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During the interview, Brennan pressed Secretary Rubio on whether the State Department was currently making such a determination. Rubio responded by focusing on the issue of property seizures and violence.
“I would determine that these people are having their properties taken from them,” Rubio stated. “You can call it whatever they want, but these are people that, on the basis of their race, are having their properties taken away from them, and their lives being threatened and, in some cases, killed.”
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Rubio emphasized that these individuals had applied for refuge in the United States, citing threats to their lives and property. He argued that the U.S. was fulfilling its role as a “beacon for those who are oppressed abroad.”
Brennan challenged Rubio, asking, “Well, is there evidence of a genocide that you have?”
Rubio asserted that there was evidence of murders and forced removals.
“I think there’s evidence, absolutely, that people have been murdered, that people have been forcibly removed from their properties, both by the government, in some cases because of a law they passed, but also because of independent groups encouraged by political parties inside of South- inside of South Africa,” he said.
Rubio underscored the gravity of the refugees’ decision to leave their homeland.
“To move here from half a world away and leave behind the only homeland you’ve ever known, that’s not something people do lightly, especially people who have spent generations farming their land and developing their property. That’s not something that you take lightly and do. These people are doing it for a reason,” he said.
He concluded by stating, “So we welcome them to the United States, and I think there may be more coming soon.”
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