The Trump administration’s crusade to “save” white South Africans from supposed persecution is backfiring.
Instead of embracing his invitation to America, growing numbers of those same expatriates are buying one-way tickets home—disillusioned by the violence, fear, and brutality in Trump’s United States.
Andrew Veitch, who left South Africa for California two decades ago after being carjacked, told Reuters he no longer feels safe in Trump’s America. “People are being shot in broad daylight. American citizens are being shot and killed,” said the 53-year-old. He plans to return to South Africa this year, joining a wave of repatriations driven by disillusionment with the country that once promised security.
“I don’t want to live in a place like this,” Veitch told the outlet.
Trump’s officials have defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who killed two U.S. citizens in January, claiming self-defense—though video evidence disputes that.
South Africa, which Trump once accused of persecuting whites, now finds itself welcoming thousands back. South Africa’s government says there is “no evidence” of racial discrimination against whites, and newly relaxed laws have prompted an online rush: 12,000 expatriates have checked their eligibility to reclaim citizenship since November.
Reuters reported that Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, a member of the white-led Democratic Alliance coalition, said 1,000 people have already reclaimed their citizenship, with many more expected. “There is definitely a sense of optimism for South Africans abroad,” he said.
Recruiters helping expats return report a surge in interest. DNA Employer of Record saw inquiries jump 70 percent in six months, while HomecomingEx reported a 30 percent rise since 2024. The motivations go beyond politics. Expats cite cheaper living, proximity to family, and, increasingly, exhaustion with American volatility.
Naomi Saphire, 46, moved from North Carolina to the Western Cape last year. “My heart is just full of gratefulness to be here,” she told the outlet. “The U.S. has been really good to me (but) I just felt like I was depriving my kids of this life.”
Benjamin Schoonwinkel, a 59-year-old white Afrikaner, also found himself tangled in the Trump administration’s heavy-handed immigration clampdown.
He flew from Johannesburg to Atlanta in September after the president openly embraced white South Africans. 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.
“I never expected this to happen,” he told The New York Times.
Schoonwinkel decided to come to the U.S. on his own rather than go through the refugee program. Departed Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said at the time, “Anyone who claims asylum at a port of entry is subject to mandatory detention while the government investigates their claims.”
South African data undercuts Trump’s well-worn narrative of “white genocide.” Unemployment stands at 35 percent for Black people and 8 percent for white people in the country, while police figures show more Black victims than white in farm attacks.
The White House did not immediately return the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
