Tacoma refugee agency sues Trump administration over Afrikaner refugee admissions
Apr 13, 2026, 6:41 AM | Updated: 6:49 am
(Photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty Images)
(Photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty Images)
A Tacoma-based group is suing the Trump administration for “discriminatory” refugee policies.
The refugee resettlement agency Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW) filed an amended complaint claiming the federal government is admitting too many white Afrikaners from South Africa, per the Seattle Times.
As part of his campaign promise to curb immigration, President Trump set a limit of 7,500 refugees, which is the lowest number since the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was instituted in 1980.
9th Circuit reversed Seattle judge’s order blocking Trump’s refugee ban
LCSNW initially filed a lawsuit along with two other refugee agencies in February 2025. A federal judge in Seattle ruled that halting admissions for refugees that had already been approved prior to Trump’s refugee ban was illegal, but this injunction was reversed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last month.
“Keeping families together and creating pathways for them to rebuild their lives reflects the best of who we are,” said LCSNW CEO David Duea in a statement. “It’s time for federal policy to return to those values.”
Why the Trump administration prioritized Afrikaner refugees from South Africa
The Trump administration has prioritized the Afrikaner population in light of the recent violence and discrimination they have faced. Last year, the White House issued a scathing rebuke of the government’s policies “designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”
Far-left political leaders in South Africa, such as the head of the Economic Freedom Fighters party Julius Malema, have openly chanted “kill the Boer, kill the farmer.”
Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa directly in an Oval Office meeting last year with video proof of persecution against Afrikaners. Over 99% of refugees let in by the Trump administration since October have been South African.
