The Trump administration chartered an almost empty flight to take white refugees from South Africa to the U.S.
The taxpayer footed the bill, even though the government could only muster up 59 people for the maiden voyage of President Donald Trump’s push to offer refuge to allegedly persecuted Afrikaners.
The flight, in May last year, was chartered by Omni Air International, which operates three passenger aircraft types with maximum capacities ranging from 290 to 440.
Boeing 767-300 charter rates typically range from $16,000 to $21,000 per flight hour, so the Johannesburg-Washington, D.C. journey could have cost Americans up to $400,000. This figure does not include various extras like positioning flights, landing fees, handling charges, crew hotels, catering, taxes, or other government-specific costs. Those can add tens of thousands of dollars.
The flight was so sparsely populated because officials were under pressure to find people ready to hop on quickly. Former officials told CNN that the White House wanted the resettlement to happen “so fast” that, upon approval, someone could be on a plane within 24 hours. “They carved out this group out of nowhere,” a source said.
These conditions made it hard to fill the flight and, ultimately, there were only a few dozen passengers. “They didn’t get close to filling the plane,” one former official told CNN.
Another former official suggested the haste was all so the Trump administration could manufacture a “photo-op.” They added that this “wasn’t fair” to the people involved.
“We would never have picked a date for people to arrive before we explicitly knew that they could leave,” one former official pushed back.
Another resettlement flight was planned for this summer, but it was suddenly scrapped, another insider claimed.
The White House insists that “President Trump has provided a lifeline for Afrikaners, who are being raped, maimed, killed, and driven off their property across South Africa.”
In a statement, spokeswoman Anna Kelly added, “While the South African government and many in the media have brushed off the horrific lived experiences of this community, the Trump administration continues to process applications for refugee status because the President has a humanitarian heart.”
The White House has been asked for further comment, and the State Department has also been approached.
