President Donald Trump has issued a directive raising the United States' annual refugee cap from 7,500 to 17,500, but reserving all additional 10,000 slots exclusively for white South Africans, whom his administration describes as victims of an "unforeseen emergency refugee situation." The move stands in stark contrast to Trump's broader dismantling of the U.S. refugee programme, which has seen the overall cap slashed from the 125,000 limit set by his predecessor Joe Biden, with hundreds of already-approved refugees having their travel plans cancelled since Trump returned to office. Experts, including South African criminologists and immigration law scholars, dispute the administration's justification, noting that white South Africans hold the country's highest employment, education, and income levels, and that the emergency provision being invoked was designed for situations of mass displacement or genocide — a threshold most specialists say this case does not meet.