The refugee resettlement programme prioritising Afrikaner South Africans will temporarily pause the processing of applications during the December break. This means that successful applicants will have to wait until next year to hear about the status of their applications.
This comes as law enforcement raided a Johannesburg office this week, arresting Kenyan nationals working in South Africa on behalf of the US Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP).
The workers were in the country on a tourist visa and have since been issued deportation notices.
The move has heightened tensions between the US and SA.
REFUGEE APPLICATIONS ON PAUSE FOR CHRISTMAS
According to reports, the Johannesburg office, where seven Kenyans were arrested this week, will be closed for the Christmas break.
This halts the refugee resettlement programme undertaken by US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The closure is not necessarily linked to the raids.
US commentator Chris Wyatt stated that the office would likely close shop due to USCIS staff being on leave.
He said in a YouTube video: “It’s likely that from the 15th of December to the 5th of January, it seems that there won’t be refugees coming to America. Why? There will be very few people working in the State Department and USCIS. It’s the Christmas holidays, and people tend to take their holiday leave.
“It’s normal, it’s not unusual”.
As such, no refugees would be boarding flights to the US during this period.
Wyatt predicted a steady flow of refugee intake, in line with President Trump’s allocation of 7500 intake of mostly Afrikaner South Africans in the next fiscal year.
ENFORCING IMMIGRATION LAWS
While the US has condemned South Africa’s “mistreatment” of Kenyan workers, acting on their behalf, the Department of Home Affairs is adamant that they were simply “enforcing immigration laws”.
The seven Kenyans were recruited to form part of the Resettlement Support Centre (RSC) Africa, which operates under the Church World Service, which is a partner of the US Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP).
According to reports, the Kenyans were “denied” work visas and entered South Africa on a tourist visa.
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The US State Department claimed that the workers would reside in South Africa, assisting the US Embassy in the country.
According to the US Embassy, RSC Africa, which manages all US-bound applicants from Africa, will coordinate all communication regarding the refugee status programme application process.
Home Affairs spokesperson Carli van Wyk stated that the Kenyans – working under a tourist visa – were “in clear violation of their conditions of entry into the country.”
They have been issued deportation notices and will be prohibited from entering South Africa for the next five years.
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