Rubio confirms controversial US 'pick and choose' policy for refugee admissions

ISTANBUL

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Tuesday the Donald Trump administration's controversial selective approach to refugee admissions, saying US has a right to "pick and choose" who they are allowing to the country.

Asked about the controversial prioritizing of South African Afrikaner farmers for refugee status during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Rubio said: “The United States has a right to allow into this country and prioritize allowance of who they want to allow come in.” The US can "pick and choose" the refugees it accepts, he reiterated.

When questioned about prioritizing Afrikaners specifically, Rubio explained: "Well, because it's a small subset, it's a new issue, and the president identified it as a problem." The choice of Afrikaners – a white group from a largely Black country with a long history of white political and economic domination – while rejecting refugees from such countries as Haiti and Afghanistan has drawn a backlash.

On why US is accepting Afrikaners but not others in conflict, Rubio said it is a matter of "volume.""If you look at all the persecuted people in the world, it's millions of people. They can't all come here," he said, adding that the policy is not race-based.

"Our immigration policy should be based on the national interest of the United States. Period. End of story," Rubio said. "If there's a subset of people that are easier to vet who, we have a better understanding of who they are ... they're going to receive preference."

The first group of Afrikaner refugees arrived in May under a program initiated by Trump in early 2025, citing claims of government-sponsored racial discrimination against the minority group in South Africa. South African officials have flatly denied the claims.