A protestor holds up a sign protesting President Trumps new policies towards refugees at the International Arrivals Terminal at Dulles International Airport as the first flight of Afrikaners From South Africa granted refugee status arrive in the United States on May 12, 2025 in Sterling, Virginia. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 31 (UPI) — The Trump administration will permit a record-low 7,500 refugees into the United States during the 2026 fiscal year, with most spots allocated to White South Africans.
The number, a drastic drop from the 125,000 that the previous Biden administration had set for 2025, is expected to be swiftly challenged by Democrats and human rights and immigration advocates.
The announcement was made Thursday, with the presidential determination being published in the Federal Register.
According to the document, the Trump administration said the number “is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
The document specifies that “admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners,” in line with President Donald Trump‘s February executive order that sought to penalize South Africa over a land expropriation law allowing the government to confiscate land if it was in the public interest and in a few specific cases without compensation.
Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Black-majority South Africa would use the law to take land from White Afrikaners. He has said that they were victims of “racial discrimination” and “large-scale killings.”
South Africa has repeatedly refuted the characterization.
In May, the first 49 Afrikaners granted refugee statues by Trump arrived in the United States.
About two weeks later, tensions flared between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump at the White House as the American leader said he had heard “thousands of stories” about violence against White South Africans in the country.
The International Refugee Assistance Project criticized the Trump administration for issuing the decision without consultation with Congress, as required by law. It also rebuked the administration for reserving admissions mostly for Afrikaners, at the expense of at-risk refugees.
It said the Trump administration was valuing “politics over protection.”
“Today’s announcement highlights just how far this administration has gone when it comes to abandoning its responsibilities to displaced people around the world,” IRAP President Sharif Aly said in a statement.
The 7,500 is the lowest since Trump set the refugee limit at 15,000 for fiscal year 2021, during his first term.
Moving into midfield, Wirtz was the outstanding Liverpool player at Wembley. Slot has clearly tweaked the system to suit their record signing – and the early signs are positive.
Wirtz has been given a role freer and further forward than Liverpool had previously from an attacking midfielder – they had nobody to do that role last season.
He almost formed a strike partnership with Ekitike at times, so close together were they. Indeed by the time he was substituted, Wirtz was playing as a false nine with Ekitike already taken off.
This freedom allowed the German to float wide left after four minutes, to pick up the ball and play in Ekitike for the opener.
There were 22 passes in the build-up to Liverpool’s opener, finishing off a move that lasted 66 seconds and involved nine players.
Until being taken off in the 84th minute Wirtz looked perfectly balanced, always in control, never flustered. His influence all over the pitch for Liverpool is already clear.
At the point of his substitution, Wirtz led Liverpool for passes and entries in the final third, crosses and touches in the Palace box. He had the third most touches in total. Everything went through him.
“It has been a really impressive performance for Wirtz,” former Palace striker Glenn Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Very dominant.
“He was tiring by the end of it and that is something he will need to get used to. But he is looking like a very good signing.”
This does put a question on Mohamed Salah’s role in the team. The Egyptian has now not scored in eight Wembley appearances, had only one shot on target and in the shootout blazed his penalty over. But that is a question for another article.
FLORIAN WIRTZ will reportedly pocket a mammoth salary at Liverpool.
The Reds agreed a record Premier League fee for the Bayer Leverkusen and Germany midfielder earlier this week.
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Liverpool are on the brink of announcing Florian Wirtz as their record signingCredit: GETTY
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The Reds have struck an £116.5million deal for the Germany international with Bayer LeverkusenCredit: GETTY
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The 22-year-old is set to become one of the Reds’ highest-earnersCredit: REX
The Merseysiders will pay the 2023/24 Bundesliga champions a whopping £116.5MILION for the 22-year-old.
Liverpool have fended off the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid to land Wirtz, who has reportedly been handed a mammoth five-year contract.
And according to Sky Sports, the German will pocket a whopping £245,000 a week during his Anfield stay.
That works out to a whopping £12.7m a year, a fee which is nearly TWELVE TIMES what he currently earns at the BayArena.
A whooping £10.2m of that figure is guaranteed for the attacking midfielder, who will pocket the remaining £2.5m if individual and team performance targets are met.
Wirtz’s salary will make him the THIRD HIGHEST-PAID player at Anfield ahead of Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac-Allister, Allisson, Ryan Gravenberch, Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez.
Only Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who both inked new one-year deals with the Prem champions last season, will earn more than him.
Egyptian Wizard Salah currently takes home a staggering £400,000 a week, which works out to be a jaw-dropping £20,800,000.
I PUSHED the order button on my phone and then 10 minutes later my groceries were at my door.
I often find I’m missing an ingredient for a recipe and with two kids at home it’s easier to get the items delivered.
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Trial of supermarket deliveries with Lana Clements, photographed by Oliver Dixon for Sun Features – 12 May 2025.Photo shows Sainsburys and COOPCredit: Oliver Dixon
But how much extra am I paying?
Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements puts 60-minute delivery services to the test.
Selecting the cheapest, pint of semi-skimmed milk, six-pack of eggs, punnet of strawberries, three-pack of Solero ice creams, loaf of white bread and two-pack of burgers.
TESCO WHOOSH
MIN SPEND: No minimum spend but baskets under £15 incur an extra £2 charge.
BASKET COST: £16.55
FEES: £2.99
TOTAL COST: £19.54
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My order arrived in 12 minutes, which was pretty speedyCredit: Oliver Dixon
Tesco claims deliveries come in 20 minutes to 70 per cent of the UK from 1,500 stores.
The choice of products was good and I was able to order everything I needed and keep costs relatively low.
For example, I was offered three different packs of strawberries to choose from.
This means the basket cost was lower than rival Tesco, however, the fees were more than £2 higher and included a carrier bag fee making it more expensive overall.
The order came exactly 10 minutes after placing it making it the fastest in the test.
And I can’t complain about the food which was all in great condition.
You can also order Sainsbury’s through Uber Eats and Deliveroo but you can earn Nectar points when ordering through Chop Chop.
This was the quickest delivery and there was a great choice of food but the fee was at the higher end of the scale.
RATING: 4/5
MORRISONS VIA AMAZON
MIN SPEND: £15 for Amazon Prime members, £40 for non-members
BASKET COST: £15.48 ( plus the extra sausages)
FEES: Orders over £60 are free for Prime members, £2 for between £40 and £60, and £4 under £40. For non-members, fees are £3 for orders over £60 and £5 between £40 and £60.
TOTAL COST: £19.48
Same-day deliveries within two-hour timeslots.
When I logged on at 9.30am in the morning, I had the choice of three slots available with the earliest being 2-4pm, the next 4-6pm and then 6-8pm.
I picked the later slot to make sure I didn’t miss the delivery while on the school run.
The choice of products was fantastic and the cheapest prices.
I needed to meet a minimum spend of £15, as I’m an Amazon Prime member. I added on a pack of sausages to bring the total order up to £15.48.
By 8pm nothing had arrived.
Then at 8.09pm I received a text message to say the order had been cancelled and that I would be refunded.
There was no reason given for the cancellation.
Luckily we didn’t go hungry as the other orders were arriving – but I was not impressed.
The fees and minimum spends are offputting too.
RATING: 0/5
WAITROSE VIA UBER EATS
MIN SPEND: No min spend over £15, but under £15 it’s £3.
BASKET COST: £13.11 (after discounts)
FEES: £3.93 Made of three parts: *Service fee (10% of your subtotal capped at £2.99) £1.64 for my order *Delivery fee (depends on variables including location and availability of drivers) £1.79 for my order. *Bag fee (depends on retailer) 50p for my order
TOTAL COST: £17.64
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The selection from Waitrose was great and my order arrived within 26 minutes.Credit: Oliver Dixon
On Uber Eats I can get Sainsbury’s and Co-op delivered as well as Waitrose.
The selection from Waitrose was great and my order arrived within 26 minutes.
I also got 50 per cent off selected fruit and veg as there was an offer running, which knocked off £2.69 off my total bill.
The fees seem excessive as you’re charged for service, delivery and bags separately.
My order was also split into two bags, pushing up the cost.
Good choice of food and it arrived in reasonable time and condition.
RATING 3/5
CO-OP VIA DELIVEROO
MIN SPEND: No min spend
BASKET COST: £13.55 (no eggs) changed to £8.10 after substitutions (no eggs, no strawberries)
The order arrived in a reasonable 17 minutesCredit: Oliver Dixon
Through Deliveroo I can get Waitrose and Sainsbury’s delivered but I tested Co-Op.
Unfortunately, it was not long after the supermarket suffered from cyber attacks impacting its stock levels and product availability.
However, I was still able to order burgers, milk, bread and ice lollies – and raspberries instead of strawberries. But there were no eggs at all.
The original order total came to £15.50.
However, the raspberries were out of stock when it came to packing and my one pint of milk was changed to a two-pint carton, while the lollies were changed to Co-Op own brand.
The order arrived in a reasonable 17 minutes.
Unlike all the other deliveries, my Co-Op shopping arrived in a green compostable bag.
This didn’t seem to offer the food as much protection as the brown paper bags from the other supermarkets.
As a result, I wasn’t too happy with my loaf of bread which arrived seriously squished.
Fees are split in a similar way to Uber Eats and made up of three parts.
The order arrived in good time but I wasn’t happy with my squashed bread and the choice also let down the experience but this seemed like bad timing.
RATING: 2/5
OTHER SUPERMARKETS
Asda and Ocado both offer speedy grocery deliveries.
Asda offers between an hour and four hours from 330 stores.
My closest branch is five miles away but I couldn’t get it delivered.
There’s no minimum spend and fees are £8.50 to £8.99.
Ocado’s Zoom delivery is between 6am and 10pm.
It currently only covers parts of West and East London.
Minimum spend is £15 and fees start from £1.49.
THE HIDDEN COST OF SPEEDY DELIVERY
IT’S not just the delivery fees that make ordering same-day delivery a pricey option.
There is a stealth cost that makes these services more expensive than standard online delivery – or if you just popped into the shop.
The vast majority of food items had been given a markup compared to the price for standard online delivery.
This markup varied between shops but made the basket almost £3 more expensive in some cases, than if you’d bought the items yourself at the shop or through online delivery.
Sainsbury’s: £15.20 versus £12.74 = £2.46 more expensive
Tesco: £16.44 versus £14.50 = £1.94 more expensive
Morrisons: £15.48 versus £14.73 = 75p more expensive
Waitrose: £13.11 versus £12.40 = 71p more expensive
