WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration, objected to the Trump Administration’s flawed attempt at an appropriate consultation with Congress on May 21st and increase in the refugee admissions goal solely for white Afrikaners from South Africa.
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In a letter to President Trump entered into the Congressional Record, the Senators identify multiple legal defects with the Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026, increasing the refugee admissions goal from 7,500 to 17,500.
“First, your Administration did not conduct the appropriate consultation required by Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 207(a)(2) … The purported consultation on May 21 occurred with the Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, and no attempts were made to ensure that members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate could attend. Prior to the consultations for Fiscal Year 2026, there are no recorded instances of a consultation occurring without at least one cabinet level official. The consultation therefore did not meet statutory requirements for an appropriate consultation. This follows multiple instances in the first Trump Administration when the Executive Branch violated the Refugee Act by failing to hold timely and meaningful consultations with Congress,” wrote the Senators.
“We also observe that there is no ‘unforeseen refugee emergency’ in South Africa justifying an increase in the refugee admissions goal… No such unforeseen emergency was described by the Administration’s briefers during the consultation or through supplemental materials. To justify the increase in refugee admissions, your designees pointed to an increase in ongoing reports of ‘rhetoric’ attacking Afrikaners by the South African government. However, in your Executive Order… you cite ‘hateful rhetoric and government actions’ by the South African government against Afrikaners—if we accept these representations as accurate, continued rhetoric was not unforeseen… During the consultation, your designees further admitted that South Africa’s official policies regarding Afrikaners have not changed since the previous consultation in November 2025. By contrast, there are numerous forced displacement crises and conflicts worldwide that would justify an emergency increase in the ceiling, including, for example, in Sudan, Burma, and Haiti,” continued the Senators.
“Your designees also stated that only Afrikaners are being considered for an exception to the bar on refugee admission. On January 20, 2025, you signed Executive Order 14163, putting an indefinite pause on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program… During the consultation, however, the designees noted that only Afrikaners are currently being excepted from the Executive Order and could not describe a process by which any other applicant for refugee admission may be considered for an exception. There were 42.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2025, including many who present no threat to the security or welfare of the United States, and whose admission would be in the national interest of the United States... We urge you to consider additional refugees for exceptions to the ban on refugee admission under Executive Order 14163,” explained the Senators.
“The U.S. refugee admissions program has been the gold standard of vetting and served as a key diplomatic tool for 46 years. The program was created by Congress with the express purpose to give ‘statutory meaning to our national commitment to human rights and humanitarian concerns.’ Your decision only to admit as refugees members of a group favored by your Administration is a betrayal of our nation’s longstanding bipartisan commitment to serve as a safe haven for those fleeing persecution. We urge you to conduct an appropriate consultation that complies with the law and to admit refugees impacted by the emergencies described above,” concluded the Senators.
For a PDF of the letter entered into the Congressional Record, click here.
