Secretary of State Marco Rubio took apart a charge made by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia that the Trump administration is giving preference to white asylum-seekers over other races.
During a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, Kaine said President Donald Trump, by executive order, has, in effect, paused all refugee programs, “except in early February, the president announced a special refugee program for Afrikaner farmers.”
The senator noted that the first group arrived from South Africa in Virginia earlier this month.
U.S. officials greet white South Africans to whom the Trump administration has granted refugee status for being deemed victims of racial discrimination in their home country. pic.twitter.com/JwaVyziofT
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 12, 2025
“Do you think Afrikaner farmers are the most persecuted group in the world?” Kaine asked.
“I think those 49 people that came certainly felt they were persecuted, and they’ve passed every sort of checkmark that had to be checked off,” Rubio answered. “They live in a country where farms are taken and land is taken on a racial basis.”
Factcheck.org reported that in January, South Africa enacted a law that allows farm land to be confiscated without compensation in some cases or for “just and equitable” payment in others.
Further, data compiled by the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa — a commercial farmers’ union made up mostly of Afrikaners — shows that there were 32 farm murders in 2024, down from 50 in 2023 and 43 in 2022. There have been a total of almost 2,300 farm murders since 1990.
Factcheck.org noted that most, if not all, the farmers murdered were white.
Kaine went on to ask a series of questions, trying to establish that the Trump administration is not applying refugee status in an even-handed way, pointing to the plight of those in Cuba, Venezuela, and China as examples.
“Our foreign policy doesn’t require even-handedness. It requires prioritizing the interests of the United States,” Rubio answered.
Kaine argued under the law, “You are entitled to entrance as a refugee if you demonstrate a well-justified fear of persecution.”
“No, no,” the secretary interjected. “You’re not entitled, you’re allowed.”
Then Kaine stated plainly what his line of questioning appeared to have been driving toward: “Should we have a different standard based upon the color of somebody’s skin? Would that be acceptable?”
Rubio has FIERY exchange with Democrat Senator over Afrikaner farmers
KAINE: “Can you have a different standard based upon the color of somebody’s skin?”
RUBIO: “I’m not the one arguing that. Apparently, you are because you don’t like the fact that they’re white.” pic.twitter.com/DTxekvdvLv
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 20, 2025
Rubio replied, “I’m not the one arguing that. Apparently, you are, ’cause you don’t like the fact that they’re white, and that’s why they’re coming.”
“These are people whose farms were being burned down, and they were being killed because of the color of their skin,” he added.
The secretary continued pointing out that one million people from all over the world immigrate to the U.S. legally each year.
Pew Research reported that 28 percent of immigrants come from Asia, 27 percent from Latin America, 12 percent from Europe and Canada, and 9 percent from Africa.
Kaine closed, saying he found it shocking that Rubio would not say that the refugee statute should be applied in an even-handed way.
“You shouldn’t be shocked,” the secretary responded. “It should be applied in the national interest of the United States.”
“If there is a subset of people that are easier to vet, who we have a better understanding of who they are and what they’re going to do when they come here, they’re going to receive preference. No doubt about it,” Rubio added.
He concluded, “The bottom line is, this notion that somehow we have to accept anyone who wants to come to the United States is absurd. No country in the world has an immigration policy like that.”
