The Trump administration is imposing new visa restrictions on some foreign nationals connected to South Africa, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday, escalating tensions with the South African government over land policy and allegations of race-based discrimination. The policy targets foreign nationals whom the administration says are responsible for or complicit in laws or policies involving uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of violence against minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa, according to the State Department. Rubio said the South African government had not adequately addressed concerns previously raised by the Trump administration.
"The United States will not allow such behavior to go unchecked," Rubio said. "These actions directly undermine peace, economic stability, and the rule of law, and they are incompatible with the pillars of America’s foreign policy." The policy does not impose a blanket visa restriction on South Africans. Instead, it targets foreign nationals whom the administration says are responsible for or complicit in the policies identified by the State Department.
Newsweek reached out to the South African Presidency via email for comment. President Donald Trump has previously cut U.S. aid to South Africa, prioritized Afrikaner refugees for resettlement in the United States and expelled the country's ambassador. He has also repeatedly claimed that white South Africans face persecution and that a “white genocide” is taking place in the country, allegations that South African officials have rejected.
The administration has separately prioritized Afrikaners, a predominantly white ethnic group in South Africa, for refugee resettlement in the United States. By late June 2026, the U.S. had admitted more than 7,700 Afrikaners from South Africa, according to State Department data. "President Trump has been very clear that we are prioritizing the resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination," a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek earlier this year.
The refugee initiative is part of the administration's broader response to what Trump has described as racial persecution of white South Africans. The latest policy also follows a contentious Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in May 2025. During the meeting, Trump presented Ramaphosa with videos and photographs that Trump said showed evidence of violence against white South Africans and white farmers.
"We've had tremendous complaints about Africa, about other countries too, from people. They say there's a lot of bad things going on in Africa," Trump said. Ramaphosa disputed Trump's characterization of conditions in South Africa during the meeting and said his government did not have a policy of persecuting white citizens.
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