The Trump Admin’s Klan Hoods Are Off
After moving to eliminate Temporary Protected Status from Afghan refugees while offering South Africans immediate citizenship, the White House can no longer deny the racism in its policies
Just hours before the white South African refugees were set to arrive in the U.S. on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Federal Register notice to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan refugees. There was no mention of the men and women who supported the U.S. over the last 20 years in its failed effort to overthrow the Taliban.
TPS is a temporary immigration status specifically for refugees or immigrants already in the U.S. from dangerous countries that make their deportation there untenable. Those conditions can include repressive regimes, civil war, natural disasters, or countries that refuse the repatriation of their citizens. The DHS Secretary has the authority to decide when a country warrants a TPS designation, but must consult with other agencies before doing so. TPS designations are typically six, eight, or twelve months but are often extended as needed.
“This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country,” Noem continued. “Additionally, the termination furthers the national interest as DHS records indicate that there are recipients who have been under investigation for fraud and threatening our public safety and national security. Reviewing TPS designations is a key part of restoring integrity in our immigration system.”
The press release from DHS argues that the situation in Afghanistan is much improved and “does not pose a threat” to the personal safety of Afghan refugees. Again, no mention in the press release or the movie in the Federal Register of the people who put their lives at risk to help fight the Taliban, who are still in control of the country after the U.S. failed to overthrow them. The Taliban still pose a risk to Afghan refugees in the U.S., whom they largely view as traitors for assisting the West.
“The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions,” reads the press release. “She further determined that permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States.”
As the US closes the door for Afghan refugees and migrants from the Global South, including Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, the Trump administration is providing expedited refugee status, airfare, government benefits, and fast-tracked citizenship to so-called ‘oppressed” white South Africans. The White House claims the South Africans are being oppressed, attacked, and murdered in what Trump refers to as a genocide (neo-Nazi talk).
In a statement, Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that as part of the Trump administration’s ‘America First’ policy agenda, the U.S. stands with people who are victims of racial discrimination. It’s safe to say that the irony here is not lost on anyone, considering just how racist and bigoted the administration riddled with white Christian nationalists has been.
“Today, the United States sends a clear message, in alignment with the administration’s America First foreign policy agenda, that America will take action to protect victims of racial discrimination,” Bruce said. “We stand with these refugees as they build a better future for themselves and their children in the United States.”
It’s worth noting that White South Africans, who are 8% of the population, own as much as 72% of all the land and typically have 20 times the wealth of Black South Africans. In contrast, Black South Africans represent 80% of the population and own only 4% of privately owned land. Additionally, the unemployment rate for Black South Africans hovers at around 46% compared to 9.2% for white South Africans.
Young white South Africans have been mocking Trump on social media since February.
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For agents of white supremacy, the definition of oppression is equality. Despite all of the failed efforts to return the land to Indigenous South Africans, a desegregated society with equal rights is not something many white South Africans have openly accepted. The truth is, white South Africans aren’t experiencing what the Trump administration alleges. Instead, it’s echoing the misinformation spread by Elon Musk because of the passage of the Expropriation Act.
Musk contends that the law is itself oppressive and allows Black South Africans to violently take white South Africans’ land. However, the legislation only allows the government to expropriate land in certain instances when it is unused or there’s public interest in its redistribution. In very few cases, unused or abandoned land can be claimed by the government without payment. In the U.S., when the government takes land, we call it eminent domain.
“No one should have to fear having their property seized without compensation or becoming the victim of violent attacks because of their ethnicity,” Bruce continued. “In the coming months, we will continue to welcome more Afrikaner refugees and help them rebuild their lives in our great country.”
Statements by government agencies that often cite problems the U.S. government is creating elsewhere, to justify racist actions, are a staple of history. That the U.S. allows the taking of property, supports, and is often behind, violent attacks against people because of their ethnicity is telling. Two decades of war in the Middle East made that abundantly clear. The blind support for the slaughter of Palestinians further solidifies the U.S. government’s duplicity.
That they refer to ‘white’ as an ethnicity speaks to my work explaining how racist white people have been suggesting this to declare the U.S. a white-Christian ethnostate as part of their solution to the racist ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory. The idea is becoming more normalized in far-right discourse, and more and more people are bolstering it.
The Trump administration is seemingly using white as an ethnicity idea as both a dog whistle and a normalization of the concept that his base will feed on.
While Trump supporters often point to FBI Director Kash Patel or Secretary of State Marco Rubio to claim the Trump administration isn’t racist, we should remember that people like Patel and Rubio have promoted white nationalist and racist ideas, as have so many others in the administration like Elon Musk, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Krisit Noem and many, many more.
After these recent actions, there is no more plausible deniability.
Oppression Looks Different to Them
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Arturo is an independent journalist whose work can be found at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
Blatant double standard for refugees. This administration rolled out the red carpet for White South Africans, a minority population that owns the vast majority of wealth and land, while Black and Brown refugees are left in the lurch.
Does she even understand what life will be like for any girls or women sent back to Afghanistan? We're sending people who helped us back to their deaths and their families to lives I personally would probably choose death over.