In a statement, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the Episcopal Church’s decision “raises serious questions about its supposed commitment to humanitarian aid.” She argued “Afrikaners have faced unspeakable horrors” and are “no less deserving of refugee resettlement than the hundreds of thousands of others who were allowed into the United States during the past Administration.”

Kelly added: “President Trump has made it clear: refugee resettlement should be about need, not politics.”
The Trump administration has otherwise all but frozen the refugee program, with Afrikaners among the few — and possibly only — people granted entry as refugees since January, despite thousands from other countries hoping to enter the U.S. to avoid persecution and violence. Shortly after he was sworn in, Trump signed an executive order that essentially halted the refugee program and stopped payments to organizations that assist with refugee resettlement — including, according to one group, payments for work already performed.