Rubio says there "may be more coming soon" amid Afrikaner refugee resettlement

Full interview: Rubio connected "Face the Nation"

Full interview: Secretary of State Marco Rubio connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" 16:26

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended a arguable caller Trump medication argumentation granting exile presumption to White South Africans days aft the archetypal group's arrival successful the U.S., saying radical should beryllium "celebrating" the move, not criticizing it. 

"We've often been lectured by radical each implicit the spot astir however the United States needs to proceed to beryllium a beacon for those who are oppressed abroad. Well, here's an illustration wherever we're doing that," Rubio said connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Last week, 59 radical from South Africa's Afrikaner assemblage — White South Africans mostly descended from Dutch settlers — arrived successful the U.S., aft President Trump earlier this twelvemonth directed his authorities to let South Africans of European descent, and Afrikaners successful particular, to beryllium resettled done the U.S. exile program.

The White House, on with South African autochthonal Elon Musk, person claimed that White South Africans person been the people of oppression by the country's government, pointing to a instrumentality that they reason is racially motivated and allows the authorities to prehend privately held onshore nether definite conditions. Until 1994, South Africa was nether number achromatic rule, enforcing the brutal strategy of apartheid connected the country's Black majority. 

President Trump signed an enforcement bid successful February directing his authorities to halt assistance to South Africa and helium has claimed a genocide is underway successful the country, saying immoderate achromatic farmers person been killed. Asked whether determination was grounds of a genocide, Rubio said "I deliberation there's evidence, absolutely, that radical person been murdered, that radical person been forcibly removed from their properties."

South Africa does not merchandise transgression figures by race. According to BBC News, determination were 12 radical killed successful workplace attacks of the 6,953 radical who were murdered successful the state betwixt October and December 2024. Of those 12, 1 was a farmer, portion the others were workplace dwellers oregon employees. 

Rubio added that "these are radical that, connected the ground of their race, are having their properties taken distant from them, and their lives being threatened and, successful immoderate cases, killed," 

He urged that "to determination present from fractional a satellite distant and permission down the lone homeland you've ever known, that's not thing radical bash lightly," arguing that "these radical are doing it for a reason."

"So we invited them to the United States, and I deliberation determination whitethorn beryllium much coming soon," helium said.

The comments travel arsenic South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is acceptable to visit the White House this week amid the tensions with the Trump administration, arsenic the South African authorities has powerfully denied the claims of onshore confiscations and racially motivated discrimination.