Since the Trump administration’s February 2025 announcement of a refugee resettlement program specifically for white South Africans, approximately 6,300 people have arrived in the United States, with 206 Afrikaners resettling in Ohio. The administration has announced plans to increase refugee admissions from South Africa by 10,000 this year.
But the arrivals have encountered barriers created by policies of the same party that prioritized their admission. Last June, Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature enacted new driving license rules for lawful residents who are not citizens or green card holders. The requirements mandate eight hours of lessons through a designated driving school, 24 hours of classroom work, and 50 hours of supervised driving before a driving exam. The estimated $500 cost and timeline of up to nine months contrast with a process that previously took weeks.
Katelyn Recicar of the International Welcome Center, an Akron-based non-profit that has assisted 50 to 70 South Africans a year with resettlement services since 2024, said many are leaving Ohio because of the driving restrictions.
“A lot of them are out-migrating, which means they arrived here and they choose to opt out of the program and move out of state,” Recicar said. She added that in the past, out-migration typically occurred when a refugee had a family member in another state to support them, but now “it’s pretty much because of the driving.”
Some South Africans are reportedly struggling to secure transportation to food banks in Akron. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said it has no record of financial hardship among the refugees. “At this time, the ODJFS has not received any direct reports from these refugees indicating they are experiencing financial hardship or planning to return to their home country and therefore cannot speculate,” a spokesperson said.
The driving rule has drawn criticism from conservative supporters of the South African refugee program, including a prominent YouTuber who called it “deeply discriminatory.”
The challenges extend beyond Ohio. Under the Trump administration, the federal refugee cash assistance program was reduced from 12 months to four months. With nearly all refugee admissions since October being from South Africa — as of April 30, 6,069 of 6,072 individuals granted refugee status were from South Africa — the policy change has disproportionately affected this group.
A woman who arrived via the program in March with her children, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear her family in South Africa might be targeted, said she left for a “better future for my kids.” She cited crime and said “our police force can’t look after us; it’s basically non-existent,” though she acknowledged she had not experienced specific attacks on her personal safety. She said she receives limited financial assistance and pays $1,950 per month in rent, and described resettlement agencies as unhelpful.
“We don’t receive any support, specifically from the resettlement agencies,” she said. “My experience is that they don’t assist us and that they are set up for failure.”
She said she has received support from the broader community. “I can’t believe how friendly the people are,” she said.
Some Afrikaners in Ohio have launched crowdfunding campaigns to help fellow arrivals, with one effort raising more than $10,000 by May 21. The campaign, hosted on GiveSendGo, described its purpose as “helping refugees pay for rent when government funding stops after 3 months as well as financial assistance towards obtaining drivers licenses ($500/person), transportation to and from clothing and food banks.” The campaign was created by Pieter van der Walt, who declined a request for comment.
A representative of Amerikaners, the South Africa-based organization enlisted by the Trump administration to administer the program, declined to comment on whether it had received reports of struggling refugees, saying the representative was not authorized to speak to the media but noting the program remained “vital.”