ISTANBUL

The US State Department announced Saturday that it welcomes white South African farmers who are being “persecuted” because of their race.

Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce wrote on X that the decision aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order, which suspends non-life-saving aid to South Africa for its land expropriation policies.

“Persecuted South African farmers and other innocent victims being targeted solely based on their race who choose to resettle in America will be welcome,” said Bruce.

She pledged to defend the rights of settlers facing “expropriation without compensation and other intolerable abuses.”

The move follows Trump’s criticism of South Africa’s new law that allows land seizures without compensation, which she claims treats “certain classes of people very badly.”

Despite Trump’s strict immigration policies, including the Laken Riley Act, which he signed recently, and plans to hold undocumented migrants at Guantanamo Bay, his administration has opened its doors to white South African farmers, framing their plight as a humanitarian issue.

South Africa’s Afrikaner community on Saturday, meanwhile, turned down an offer to resettle in the US as refugees. "We are indigenous to this country and are going nowhere," said Kallie Kriel, CEO of Afriforum, a group that promotes the interests of Afrikaans speakers.