BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The arrival of white Afrikaner refugees in Alabama this week, part of a Trump administration initiative prioritizing their resettlement, has sparked debate in a state with a long, complex history of race and migration.
Fifty-nine Afrikaners from South Africa are being welcomed to the United States under a program President Donald Trump described as a response to “genocide” and “racial bias” against whites in South Africa. The South African government and international observers have dismissed these claims as “completely false,” noting that Afrikaners remain among the most privileged groups in their home country, and that the narrative of white persecution is a myth promoted by far-right media and white nationalist groups.
The optics are hard to ignore in Alabama, where Black Haitian migrants and asylum seekers have faced open hostility, misinformation, and legal obstacles. In cities like Sylacauga and Albertville, Haitian newcomers have been met with suspicion and calls for landlords to deny them housing, even as they flee genuine violence and political chaos at home. Federal policies have made it increasingly difficult for Haitians to claim asylum, with many facing detention or deportation despite the U.S. having long-standing ties to Haiti and a clear humanitarian crisis unfolding just beyond its shores.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s embrace of Afrikaner refugees stands in stark contrast to its suspension of most other refugee admissions, particularly from nonwhite nations. Critics say this selective compassion exposes a troubling double standard: white migrants are fast-tracked for resettlement on the basis of widely debunked claims, while Black migrants from Haiti-facing well-documented threats-are turned away or detained.
For many in Alabama, the situation raises uncomfortable questions about whose suffering is recognized and whose is dismissed. As the state welcomes its newest arrivals from South Africa, the contrast with the treatment of Haitian neighbors is impossible to overlook.