A white Afrikaner thought he could seek asylum in the U.S. after President Donald Trump offered them refugee status—but instead was detained upon arrival.
Benjamin Schoonwinkel, a 59-year-old white Afrikaner, flew from Johannesburg to Atlanta in September after Trump openly embraced white South Africans he said were facing violence and offered them refugee status.
But when Schoonwinkel landed in the U.S. on a tourist visa and told American border agents that he was seeking asylum, he was detained and later thrown into a federal detention facility in rural Georgia, where the Trump administration is holding immigrants who were swept up in its crackdown, according to The New York Times.
“I never expected this to happen,” he told the outlet, which noted that he appeared and sounded unwell during a video interview from the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.
Rick Taylor, Schoonwinkel’s friend, said he had planned to welcome him to Arkansas.
“When I saw President Trump brought some Afrikaners to the U.S., I contacted Ben,” Taylor told the Times. “I said, ‘I think this is a good time for you to come here.’ Ben had the money and means to get a good start and make it here.”
Taylor, 63, said he was shocked by his friend’s arrest: “We thought he was doing it the right way.”
Schoonwinkel decided to come to the U.S. on his own rather than go through the refugee program. He told the outlet that he did not understand it to be a requirement and had gotten advice that seeking asylum would be similar to going through the refugee program.
Schoonwinkel said in his asylum application that he was persecuted in South Africa based on his race, political opinion, and membership in a particular social group, according to the Times. But the documents supporting his claim were confiscated by U.S. authorities, including his passport.
Marty Rosenbluth, Schoonwinkel’s lawyer, argued that his due process rights were violated. Schoonwinkel expects to get a hearing date next month.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed in a statement to the Daily Beast that Schoonwinkel came to the U.S. on a tourist visa and claimed asylum at a port of entry.
“Anyone who claims asylum at a port of entry is subject to mandatory detention while the government investigates their claims,” she said. “If their claims are found to be valid, they will be granted relief. If they are found to not be valid, they are swiftly removed.”
In February, Trump signed an executive order directing officials to prioritize the resettlement of Afrikaners, who are descendants of European—mostly Dutch—settlers.
Trump asserted in May that white Afrikaners were victims of a “genocide”—a claim that has been rebuffed as “nonsense” by John Steenhuisen, South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture.
“Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white,” Trump said earlier this year. “But whether they’re white or Black makes no difference to me. But white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa, and the newspapers and the media, television media, doesn’t even talk about it.”
McLaughlin said South African refugees continue to arrive in the U.S.
“All admitted Afrikaner refugees have demonstrated a persecution claim and have been strictly vetted in accordance with the procedures of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program—before their arrival in the United States,” she said.
Taylor, meanwhile, told the Times that he is worried about Schoonwinkel.
“I believe President Trump would release him if he knew about this,” he said.
