Immigration & Border Security

May 20 (UPI) — The Trump administration is imposing visa restrictions on India-based travel agencies and their owners for facilitating illegal migration to the United States.

The State Department announced the punitive measure Monday amid a Trump administration crackdown on immigration, saying it was banning entry to owners, executives and senior officials of Indian travel agencies who knowingly facilitate illegal migration.

Specifics of who and what firms were targeted were not disclosed, but the State Department said its Consular Affairs and Diplomatic Security Services mission in India was working to identify those involved in human smuggling and trafficking operations.

“We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against owners, executives and senior officials of travel agencies to cut off alien smuggling networks,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

“Our immigration policy aims not only to inform foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal immigration to the United States but also to hold accountable individuals who violate our laws, including facilitators of illegal immigration.”

Under the previous Biden administration, the State Department announced a policy in July that prohibited entry to executives of travel agencies and tour operators offering services to bring migrants into the United States illegally.

It was one of several actions the Biden administration took to curb illegal migration amid criticism during a surge in migrants entering the country following the end of pandemic-era restrictions.

The Biden administration in November 2023 first implemented a policy to target Nicaraguan charter flight companies, which was late superseded by another policy that included ground and maritime transportation firms.

The Biden administration also imposed a policy to bar visa issuance to Colombian transportation companies executives and owners.

Then in March, the Trump administration announced a further expansion to the policy to ban entry to foreign government officials facilitating irregular migration by failing to enforce immigration laws or policies.

UPI has contacted the State Department for comment.

Since President Donald Trump‘s inauguration in January, the White House has conducted a crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration that includes mass deportation efforts, which have been challenged in court.

May 20 (UPI) — Lithuania on Monday filed a case against Belarus in the International Court of Justice, accusing its southern neighbor of facilitating a large-scale smuggling scheme.

The filing initiates legal proceedings against Belarus in the World Court, based in The Hague.

“We are taking this case to the International Court of Justice to send a clear message: no state can use vulnerable people as political pawns without facing consequences under international law,” Lithuanian Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus said in a statement.

Lithuania specifically accused Belarus of violating the United Nations Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, which was adopted in 2000, to supplement the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

According to the application to the ICJ, the Baltic county accuses Belarus of “facilitating, supporting and enabling” the smuggling of migrants into the country while failing to implement smuggling protection measures at their shared border.

Vilnius also charges Minsk with failing to exchange information about smuggling with Lithuania’s border control agencies and neglecting to protect the rights of migrants.

“The smuggling of migrants through Belarus into Lithuania has caused serious harm to Lithuania’s sovereignty, security and public order, as well as to the rights and interests of the smuggled migrants themselves, who have been exposed to grave abuses in trying to reach Lithuanian territory,” Vilnius said.

“The large-scale smuggling of migrants has also overwhelmed Lithuania’s reception facilities and asylum systems, which has heavily affected Lithuania’s ability to respond to the migration crisis at the border.”

It said it has made “extensive efforts” to address the issue with Belarus, but that Belarus has “refused to engage in constructive and effective dialogue.”

Belarus not only continued to deny its responsibility under the U.N. protocol, it said, “but also the facts on the ground underlying those breaches,” it said.

Lithuania’s foreign ministry said the “unprecedented” flow of migrants from Belarus dates back to at least 2021, and that it has evidence confirming the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko is directly involved in the scheme.

According to the ministry, Belarusian state-owned companies have increased the number of flights from the Middle East and other regions and organized the issuance of visas and accommodations.

It said that when the migrants arrive in Belarus, many are taken to the Lithuanian border by security forces and are forced to cross into the country under what the ministry described as “dangerous and life-threatening conditions.”

Lithuania states that the smuggling scheme is an attempt to use migrants to retaliate against Vilnius and the European Union over their rejection of Lukashenko’s attacks on democracy and human rights abuses with sanctions.

Belarus has yet to respond to the development.

In December, the European Commission approved member states to adopt measures to country “the weaponization of migration by Russia and Belarus.”

It said Eastern EU countries that border both Belarus and Russia are at risk of migrants being used “as a political tool to destabilize our societies.”

May 19 (UPI) — The first immigrants who agreed to self-deport and accept a $1,000 stipend left on a chartered flight out of the United States on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The flight took 64 nationals — 26 from Colombia and 38 from Honduras — back home in “Project Homecoming.” They boarded a charter bus and then a World Atlantic Airlines charter that left Houston at 9:30 a.m. CDT. Children were given toys and everyone received a lunch bag.

“This was a voluntary charter flight, not an ICE enforcement operation,” DHS said in a news release, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“All participants were offered the same benefits as any illegal alien who self-deports using the CBP Home App. They received travel assistance, a $1,000 stipend, and preserved the possibility they could one day return to the United States legally.”

Earlier this month, HHS announced the program.

They said migrants typically would be given about three weeks to prepare to depart.

“Today, DHS conducted its first Project Homecoming charter flight of 64 individuals who voluntarily chose to self-deport to their home counties of Honduras and Colombia,” Secretary Kristi Noem said. “If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home. If you don’t, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation and will never be allowed to return. If you are in this country illegally, self-deport NOW and preserve your opportunity to potentially return the legal, right way.”

The app was redesigned from the Biden administration’s CBP One, which allowed migrants to schedule an appointment at a port of entry to make an initial claim of asylum.

In February, DHS launched a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign warning undocumented migrants that they will be deported if they are in the United States.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association cautioned people against self-reporting and taking the stipend.

“AILA cautions individuals when reviewing the announcement to understand it is deceptive and gives people the impression there are no consequences, such as being barred from returning in the future,” AILA said. No one should accept this without first obtaining good legal advice from an immigration attorney or other qualified representative.”

The group said the offer may be a “trap.”

“It is unethical for the government to tell people ‘Self-Deportation Is Safe’ but not explain the hardship and legal risks to them, especially for people who do not have an attorney and will not know their rights under the law,” the group said.

HHS posted photos of migrants headed to their Central American countries.

HHS noted returnees to Honduras were also eligible for $100 in government assistance and food vouchers.

The Colombian government provided social services from the Family Welfare Institute and the Department of Social Prosperity.

The self-deportation plan comes amid other ways the Trump administration is trying to deport migrants.

The State Department is using AI to monitor social media of foreign students for alleged “pro-Hamas” sympathies. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1958 are being used to deport people with supposed criminal records.

The Trump administration through the end of March arrested more than 158,000 unregistered immigrants, including more than 600 suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Of the arrests, 75% had convictions or pending charges, DHS said.

During November when Joe Biden was president, U.S. agents arrested more than 21,000 unauthorized immigrants — about one-third of Trump’s numbers.

Illegal border crossings have plunged to the lowest level in decades.

In March, there were 7,181 encounters at the border, which is a 95% reduction from 136,473 in the same month a year ago and 97% from 2022 of 211,181.

In April, it was roughly 8,400.

May 19 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to revoke special legal protections for nearly 350,000 Venezuelan nationals living in the United States temporarily.

Homeland Security had asked the justices to lift a lower court’s injunction that blocked Secretary Kristi Noem’s revocations of the Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she would deny emergency relief.

The brief order said Northern California district court order is “stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, if such a writ is timely sought.”

The TPS program, created in 1990, provides temporary legal status and work authorization to nationals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions.

On Feb. 3, Noem terminated the designation, which began in March 2021 and was extended by the Biden administration in October 2023. On April 7, protected Venezuelans were to lose their government-issued work permits and deportation protections.

Another 250,000 immigrants from the Central American country who arrived before 2023 will lose their status in September.

In all, about eight million people have left Venezuela since 2014 due to political persecution, violence, and a lack of food and access to essential services. In 2023, Nicolás Maduro was elected in a race contested as fraudulent by the opposition and outside observers.

The Venezuelan program is the largest TPS designation.

At least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, the agency’s secretary is required to review the conditions in a country designated for TPS to determine whether the conditions supporting the designation continue to be met.

On March 30, District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco blocked the action and said the decision to terminate the TPS program for the Venezuelans appeared to be “predicated on negative stereotypes.” The appointee of President Barack Obama said the order was “motivated by unconstitutional animus” and unlikely to prevail in a court’s final decision.

On April 15, Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, also appointed by Obama, separately temporarily blocked a TPS revocation of about 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela in the United States. It was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the administration’s emergency appeal of the decision by Chen: “So long as the order is in effect, the secretary must permit hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals to remain in the country, notwithstanding her reasoned determination that doing so is ‘contrary to the national interest.'”

Seven Venezuelan nationals covered by TPS and a group that represents others challenged the change.

Lawyers for TPS beneficiaries told the Supreme Court in a filing: “Staying the district court’s order would cause far more harm than it would stop. It would radically shift the status quo, stripping plaintiffs of their legal status and requiring them to return to a country the State Department still deems too dangerous even to visit.”

The U.S. State Department advises Americans not to travel to Venezuela, the highest travel advisory level.

At the end of Trump’s first term, officials described Venezuela as “the worst humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere.” A different form of temporary relief to some of its migrants was granted.

This litigation is separate from lawsuits involving Trump’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. The Supreme Court ruled Friday again against the administration, saying more notice is needed for people to challenge their removal under the act, which has been used during wars. In April, the justices paused deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant who was living in Maryland but deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration in San Salvador, El Salvador in April. Photo courtesy El Salvador President Nayib Bukele | License Photo

May 16 (UPI) — A federal judge will hear arguments Friday from the Trump administration to determine if the government has the legal privilege to not share details about its actions taken toward the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Abrego Garcia was deported in March to the supermax Terrorism Confinement Center prison, or CECOT, in El Salvador because he was an accused member of the MS-13 gang.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration in April to return Abrego Garcia, who it said was illegally removed from the United States.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers continue to try to bring him back but allege the federal government has purposefully delayed his return. The Trump administration has since invoked “state secrets privilege,” which allows an executive department to withhold information or evidence in a court case because the information or evidence could jeopardize national security.

The administration’s use of the privilege has presiding U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to ask lawyers from both sides of the case to file added legal papers about the administration’s use of the privilege.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed papers Monday that purport the government has yet to produce any evidence that it has done anything to facilitate the man’s release from imprisonment in El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia was born in El Salvador but entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and had been living in Maryland. He was granted a withholding of removal legal status in 2019 that protected him from deportation due to the risk he would face upon a return to El Salvador from local gangs.

He was one of hundreds of migrants sent by the Trump administration in March to CECOT, and despite the government’s acknowledgement that he was incorrectly deported, he has been purported to be a member of the gang MS-13 by immigration officials.

Abrego Garcia’s legal team has argued that he was not only never part of MS-13, but was never charged or convicted of any crimes in the United States.

May 16 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s legislative agenda megabill failed to advance after a band of far-right Republicans objected to it during a meeting of the House Budget Committee on Friday.

House Freedom Caucus members — Reps. Andrew Clyde, Josh Brecheen, Ralph Norman and Chip Roy — were joined by Rep. Lloyd Smucker in voting against letting the bill out of committee.

“We are writing checks we cannot cash, and our children are going to pay the price. I am a no on this bill unless serious reforms are made today, tomorrow, Sunday,” Roy said in the committee meeting. “Something needs to change, or you’re not going to get my support.”

Roy said on social media that the critics of the bill were “making progress” in negotiating it, but the vote was called “and the problems were not resolved.”

Norman similarly aired his issues with the bill on Friday on social media. “Why rush the process when we should be working overtime to get it right?” he said.

Clyde affirmed on social media that he “fully” supports Trump’s agenda but said the bill did not go far enough in addressing alleged waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, among other grievances.

Committee chair Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, adjourned the meeting after the vote was read and said they would not meet again until after the weekend.

Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., predicted in comments to NBC News that the bill would eventually pass after negotiations. “It has to pass,” he said.

Smucker, who initially voted for the bill before changing his vote, also said he hopes the bill can pass the committee by Monday.

Hours before the vote, Trump hit out at his critics on his Truth Social platform, saying that the “grandstanders” must unite behind his agenda.

“Not only does it cut taxes for all Americans, but it will kick millions of illegal aliens off of Medicaid to protect it for those who are the ones in real need,” Trump said.

“The country will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their taxes going up 65%. It will be blamed on the Democrats, but that doesn’t help our voters. We don’t need ‘grandstanders’ in the Republican Party.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson has plans to put the legislation on the floor for a vote before Memorial Day.

Roy said Thursday in a post to X that “the House proposal fails to meet the moment,” and that “it does not meaningfully change spending,” and then added that he feels “many of the decent provisions and cuts, don’t begin until 2029 and beyond. That is swamp accounting to dodge real savings.”

Currently, the bill’s work requirements for Medicaid recipients without disabilities and children would not launch until 2029.

Aside from Roy and Norman, a contingent of GOP members from New York have made it clear they won’t vote for the bill unless it addresses state and local taxes, or SALT.

The bill as is raises the current $10,000 cap on SALT that can be written off on federal tax returns to $30,000, but the Empire State Republicans want it to be even higher.

“My Republican colleagues need to remember that maintaining the majority means they have to work together with swing seats like mine, where SALT is a priority. It’s time to negotiate; they need to pass the SALT, or I’m voting no,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R- N.Y. announced Wednesday on social media.

Fellow GOP and New York Congressman Nick LaLota stated on X Thursday that “$250K might be rich in Missouri,” but “not on Long Island,” and that “A $30K SALT cap doesn’t cut it. Before 2017, SALT was unlimited. We proposed $62K/$124K caps to fully protect 98% of my district.”

“I want to say yes to the One Big Beautiful Bill, but not without a real SALT fix,” LaLota said.

President Donald Trump responded to the impending showdown Friday via Truth Social, where he insisted “Republicans must unite behind, ‘The One, Big Beautiful Bill,'”

“We don’t need ‘grandstanders in the Republican Party. Stop talking and get it done!” Trump wrote.

The bill if passed would both extend the life of tax cuts set during Trump’s first term and enact up to $1.5 trillion in new tax breaks, with an increase of federal deficit by $1.5 trillion as Trump seeks to spend as much as $175 billion on border security and immigration enforcement, as well as an additional $150 billion for military spending.

The legislation would also increase fossil fuel production and the mining of public lands. To offset the spending, there will be $1.5 trillion in cuts to spending of safety-net programs.

“We have a duty to know the true cost of this legislation before advancing it,” Brecheen said. “If we are to operate in truth, we must have true numbers, even if that means taking some more time to obtain that truth.”

May 13 (UPI) — The Trump administration has launched an investigation into a California state-level program that provides aged, blind and disabled non-citizens with monthly cash benefits on accusations it was illegally distributing federal funding to those ineligible for Social Security.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the probe Monday in a statement saying it was requesting all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, which administers California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, to determine whether federal funds were given to ineligible undocumented immigrants.

The probe will examine the program’s records going back to January 2021, the month the previous president, Joe Biden, took office.

“Radical left politicians in California prioritize illegal aliens over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens access to cash benefits,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in the statement.

“The Trump administration is working together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and make sure those in this country illegally are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally.”

The DHS said it is specifically looking to see if undocumented immigrants were receiving Supplemental Security Income from the Social Security Administration.

California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants dates back to the 1990s and was established to provide monthly cash benefits to specific immigrants ineligible for SSI due to their immigration status.

According to its website, the program is entirely state funded. To be eligible, applicants must be California residents ineligible for SSI and either be 65 years old or older, blind or disabled.

The investigation was met with swift condemnation from SEIU California union that accused the Trump administration of using “bullying” tactics to attack the state’s safety net.

“Donald Trump‘s campaign to instill fear in immigrant communities will meet resolute opposition here in California,” the union’s president, David Huerta, said in a statement.

Huerta said the federal government has no basis for its “legal bullying” and no right to tell California how to use its state funds to fight poverty.

“The sole purpose of this sham ‘investigation’ is clear: intimidation of people seeking safety and of all those who provide them with needed support,” Huerta said.

“We will not be intimidated, and we will not back down.”

SEIU California is a non-partisan union representing some 750,000 nurses, healthcare workers, janitors, social workers and security officers as well as city, county and state employees.

President Donald Trump ran on a platform to crack down on migration and to undertake the largest deportation in American history, while using controversial and derogatory rhetoric to spread misinformation and false claims about migrants and crime.

Since his January inauguration, he has used his executive powers to focus the federal government on targeting immigration.

A month ago, he signed an executive order directing Noem and other cabinet officials to ensure undocumented immigration do not receive funds from Social Security programs and to take civil and criminal action against governments that fail to prevent non-citizens from receiving the benefits.

May 12 (UPI) — The first set of 49 White South African “Afrikaners” granted refugee status by President Donald Trump arrived in the United States on Monday.

The group departed Johannesburg on Sunday night on a private flight paid for by the U.S. government.

They arrived Monday in Washington at Dulles airport before being expatriated to multiple states, including Texas, Minnesota, Nevada and Idaho, where they will be on a pathway to U.S. citizenship and eligible for government benefits.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau welcomed the first group of Afrikaners, the State Department said.

“This tremendous accomplishment, at the direction of Secretary Rubio, responds to President Trump’s call to prioritize U.S. refugee resettlement of this vulnerable group facing unjust racial discrimination,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

“No one should have to fear having their property seized without compensation or becoming the victim of violent attacks because of their ethnicity.”

Trump threatened in February to cut all U.S. funding to South Africa seemingly over its land expropriation law, which allows local, provincial and national authorities to confiscate land if it is in the public interest and in few specific cases without compensation.

The American president has claimed without evidence that South Africa is taking land from White Afrikaners, who Trump went on to claim were victims of “racial discrimination” and “large-scale killings.”

“Your case manager will pick you up from the airport and take you to housing that they have arranged for you,” read a document in part for the arriving South Africans. “This housing may be temporary (like a hotel) while a local organization helps you identify more long-term housing,” it added.

According to the South African government, it has not expropriated any land.

On Monday, South Africa Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said “there is no persecution of White Afrikaner South Africans,” adding how police reports debunked Trump’s false assertion.

The law states property cannot be expropriated arbitrarily and can only be seized if an agreement with the owner cannot be reached, subject to “just and equitable compensation” being paid.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s government said the Afrikaners, who are largely descended from Dutch settlers from the Netherlands in western Europe, wouldn’t be stopped from going, “albeit under a false narrative.”

“You are expected to support yourself quickly in finding work,” U.S. immigration documents said. “Adults are expected to accept entry-level employment in fields like warehousing, manufacturing, and customer service. You can work toward higher-level employment over time,” they were informed.

Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, has accused Ramaphosa’s government of “openly pushing for genocide of white people” despite any evidence.

In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. Ebrahim Rasool for “race-baiting” following remarks accusing the United States of engaging in “supremacist” policies domestically and globally as South Africa has joined other nations in accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing acts of genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

“There’s no legal or any factual basis for the executive order sanctioning this action,” Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, told NPR after learning of the granting of refugee status.

“None of the provisions of international law on the definition of refugees are applicable in this case,” he said, adding that South Africa’s sovereignty as a country was being “grossly undermined and violated” by the U.S. in a way that was “disturbing.”

According to the World Bank, inequality is among the world’s highest in South Africa, which had segregationist policies via “apartheid” that only began to fully unravel in the early 1990s.

A 2017 land audit report found that White South Africans own 72% of all farm and agricultural land, while Black South Africans owned 15%.

As of 2022, White South Africans account for less than 8% of its population of more than 63 million.

Scores of South African civilians, meanwhile, took to social media to post comedic memes and videos expressing doubt over the plight of the Afrikaners, joking how they will miss “privileged lives, domestic workers and beach holidays.”

Max du Preez, a white Afrikaner author, told BBC that the claims of persecution of white South Africans were a “total absurdity” and “based on nothing.”

A U.S. government employee, while not authorized to speak to reporters, told NPR what they considered this was “immigration fraud” after the Trump administration effectively suspended America’s refugee admission program.

The Internal Revenue Service Headquarters is seen in Washington, D.C. On Monday, a federal judge ruled the IRS can share taxpayer data with immigration authorities to locate undocumented immigrants for deportation. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled data-sharing is allowed “for criminal investigations.” File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

May 12 (UPI) — A federal judge ruled Monday that the Internal Revenue Service can share taxpayer data with immigration authorities to locate undocumented immigrants for deportation.

District Judge Dabney Friedrich, an appointee from President Donald Trump‘s first term, denied a preliminary injunction filed by immigrant rights groups, who argued sharing information violated taxpayer confidentiality laws.

“Plaintiffs Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, Somos Un Pueblo Unido and Inclusive Action for the City bring this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from sharing personal tax information with the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement purposes,” Friedrich wrote, adding “the court will deny the motion.”

The ruling is a win for the Trump administration and the president’s immigration agenda.

Last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem agreed to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit names of immigrants for cross-verification of tax records. Under the data-sharing deal, DHS can ask the IRS to confirm the addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Friedrich said sharing information between federal agencies to enforce immigration laws does not violate confidentiality laws.

“At its core, this case presents a narrow legal issue: Does the Memorandum of Understanding between the IRS and DHS violate the Internal Revenue Code? It does not,” according to Friedrich’s order.

Last month, acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Kraus resigned over the data-sharing deal. Former acting IRS Commissioner Doug O’Donnell also refused to sign the agreement in February, before he retired.

While the IRS can share data to help in criminal investigations, the tax agency can not share data on civil issues or to help with deportations.

According to the Justice Department, the data-sharing agreement complies with the law because requests for IRS information will target only those under criminal investigation.

“Requesting and receiving information for civil enforcement purposes would constitute a cognizable injury, but none of the organizations have established that such an injury is imminent,” Friedrich wrote.

“The Memorandum only allows sharing information for criminal investigations … On this limited record, the court cannot assume that DHS intends to use the shared information to facilitate civil rather than criminal proceedings.”

May 12 (UPI) — The first set of 49 w\White South African “Afrikaners” granted refugee status by President Donald Trump will arrive Monday to the United States.

The group departed Johannesburg on Sunday night on a private flight paid for by the U.S. government.

They will arrive Monday in Washington at Dulles Airport before being expatriated to multiple states, including Texas, Minnesota, Nevada and Idaho, where they will be on a pathway to U.S. citizenship and eligible for government benefits.

Trump threatened in February to cut all U.S. funding to South Africa seemingly over its land expropriation law, which allows local, provincial and national authorities to confiscate land if it is in the public interest and in few specific cases without compensation.

The American president has claimed without evidence that South Africa is taking land from White Afrikaners, who Trump went on to claim were victims of “racial discrimination” and “large-scale killings” of White South African farmers.

“Your case manager will pick you up from the airport and take you to housing that they have arranged for you,” read a document in part for the arriving South Africans. “This housing may be temporary (like a hotel) while a local organization helps you identify more long-term housing,” it added.

According to the South African government, it has not expropriated any land.

On Monday, South Africa Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said “there is no persecution of White Afrikaner South Africans,” adding how police reports debunked Trump’s false assertion.

The law states property cannot be expropriated arbitrarily and can only be seized if an agreement with the owner cannot be reached, subject to “just and equitable compensation” being paid.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s government said the Afrikaners, who are largely descended from Dutch settlers from the Netherlands in western Europe, wouldn’t be stopped from going, albeit under a false narrative.”

“You are expected to support yourself quickly in finding work,” U.S. immigration documents said. “Adults are expected to accept entry-level employment in fields like warehousing, manufacturing, and customer service. You can work toward higher-level employment over time,” they were informed.

Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, has accused Ramaphosa’s government of “openly pushing for genocide of white people” despite any evidence.

In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. Ebrahim Rasool for “race-baiting” following remarks accusing the United States of engaging in “supremacist” policies domestically and globally as South Africa has joined other nations in accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing acts of genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

“There’s no legal or any factual basis for the executive order sanctioning this action,” Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, told NPR after learning of the granting of refugee status.

“None of the provisions of international law on the definition of refugees are applicable in this case,” he said, adding that South Africa’s sovereignty as a country was being “grossly undermined and violated” by the U.S. in a way that was “disturbing.”

According to the World Bank, inequality is among the world’s highest in South Africa which had segregationist policies via “apartheid” that only began to fully unravel in the early 1990s.

A 2017 land audit report found that White South Africans own 72% of all farm and agricultural land, while Black South Africans owned 15%.

As of 2022, White South Africans account for less than 8% of its population of more than 63 million.

Scores of South African civilians, meanwhile, took to social media to post comedic memes and videos expressing doubt over the plight of the Afrikaners, joking how they will miss “privileged lives, domestic workers and beach holidays.”

Max du Preez, a white Afrikaner author, told BBC that the claims of persecution of white South Africans were a “total absurdity” and “based on nothing.”

A U.S. government employee, while not authorized to speak to reporters, told NPR what they considered this was “immigration fraud” after the Trump administration effectively suspended America’s refugee admission program.