Olivia, thank you for this in-depth explanation to the obvious and blatant racism that pervades this present administration. It is egregious and disgraceful and unconscionable. The actors involved (orange man-baby et.al.) might as well be wearing white, pointy hoods. My heart breaks for those many Afghans who helped our soldiers and were promised asylum in return. Keep speaking truth.
As a white South African, now US citizen, who emigrated to the US in the early ‘80’s this is SO on point - these Afrikaners are the furthest thing from refugees - white South Africans remain a privileged minority in a finally democratic South Africa
You left long before the country changed for the worse. My closest friend is afraid to speak out because as she says she could be killed there for doing so. She isn’t white but another minority. From the complete breakdown of government services to the blatant racism by the blacks toward other minorities, to the insane corruption and incompetence, I can totally understand that those Afrikaners could be classified as refugees WITHOUT THE QUOTES as Olivia adds.
As someone who grew up there I remember in the 60's and 70's being afraid to speak out because of the secret police, because of the detention without trial (think habeus corpus) because of the people, white and black who were banned and prevented from meeting with more than 2 non-relatives at a time - I remember Steve Biko and Rick Turner (amongst others) who lost their lives. I also visited earlier this year and the inequalities and segregation persist. Those Afrikaners enjoyed years of privilege and job reservation (euphemism for positions that were preserved for whites) - they are not refugees in any meaningful sense of the word.
I studied, fairly extensively, South Africa in college while working on my degree in International Studies. One really has to understand the history of South Africa to have an opinion about this situation. The fact is, South Africa was colonized with the rest of Africa by Europeans (a lot of Dutch settlers) and their problems stem from this, not-so-nice, history. This is not some new phenomena that is happening albeit South Africa's history is long and very complex. Nonetheless, leave it to the Trump regime to pour fuel on the fire for political gain. And, to do so, while we are expelling innocent immigrants is alarming, at best. In other words, bring white South Africans into the United States at this time makes zero sense to the rest of us and can only be viewed as overt racism.
Although Trump issued an order stopping refugee access to the country, obviously these people are exceptions. Why? Trump claimed yesterday that they were enduring some form of genocide. Oh, BS! The transparent reason is that they are WHITE!
So, white people are fine, while others are not. This is RACISM! Trump and his MAGAts are BIGOTS --- RACISTS!
I found Landau's comments upon greeting the "refugees" at Dulles particularly disturbing as the horrific white supremacist ideology is obvious.
Landau stated “When you have quality seeds, you can put them in foreign soil and they will blossom. They will bloom. We are excited to welcome you here to our country where we think you will bloom.”
Thank you for explaining this and breaking all of this down. And a big thanks for all your hard work. Trump and his regime are pure evil and racist monsters. Horrible they are and very dangerous. But we appreciate you be safe.💯💙💪🙏🏾💯
"In Trump's second term, the facade has dropped entirely. The South African "refugee" program reveals the true agenda in stark relief. We owe our Afghan allies more. We owe our partners in the faith community more. And we owe ourselves a country that doesn't turn refugee protection into a tool for racist propaganda and political vendettas.
This transcends immigration policy. It strikes at the heart of American values, revealing how quickly truth can erode, how easily humanitarian systems can be corrupted, and how insidiously fascism can disguise itself as "protecting the persecuted." The world sees this charade for what it is, and so must we."
Amen, Olvia. To date, one of the most profound, timely, and poignant pieces you have written. I hoped you would address this and am grateful that you did. Thank you.
Olivia, your perspective is greatly valued! I’m afraid for my friends who have come to the U.S. as refugees who are black or brown. I worry that this regime will not honor their refugee status. I appreciate your view on this very much.
So glad you wrote about this. The actions and power of these white supremacists are bone-chilling. Your words are compassionate, fact-based, and sincere. They provide comfort, like those warm blankets hospitals give you when they sense you need emotional support. Thank you for all you do.
Thank you for this illuminating post. As this country becomes more battered by fascism, the enemy within, we have to be aware of what they're doing to the meaning of words with their revisionist applications of new meanings to words that we have taken for granted to define a particular thing, like refugee. Orwell wrote a lot about this in his novel 1984 and other writing, In the novel 1984, written in 1949, he coined the word Newspeak to explain how this was done. I've borrowed that concept in 2025 to create the phrase MAGA Newspeak, to explain how MAGA is changing our language. You can read more here: https://mbmatthews.substack.com/p/the-tongue-of-maga-newspeak
This is important to acknowledge because democracy doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does to those who use it in the old sense, those who use Oldspeak.
International refugee now means something completely different in MAGA Newspeak than in Oldspeak as you so deftly point out. We have to keep fighting to keep Oldspeak in the vernacular of American democracy. Thank you.
I’m grateful for the full truth you provide, details from one who was in the room during the first Trump administration. You have confirmed what looks glaringly shocking and true to me. I’m not a person of color but I’m sure my friends who are have seen the racist motives of this administration all along, and what I’ve suspected is confirmed by this Afrikaner situation. Peter Thiel wasn’t mentioned in this article but I can see his ideological poison running through this situation.
“After consultation with interagency partners, Secretary Noem determined that conditions in Afghanistan no longer meet the statutory requirements. The Secretary’s decision was based on a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review of the country conditions and in consultation with the Department of State. The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions. She further determined that permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States.”
So Puppy Killer Too Much Filler has decided it’s fine for the Afghans that helped us go back to the Taliban. What could go wrong?
This is a disgusting betrayal of our allies. We are sending them back to almost certain death.
This administration just proves time and again that the Confederacy never fully retreated and the Klan is in full operation in the White House today. They wised up and got rid of the sheets.
Once again the t***p administration creates something out of whole cloth, and we are stunned into inaction and silence by the glaring lack of evidence of this new “you’ve got it all wrong, let me explain to you what is really happening here” problem that only he can fix. These wackos are certified experts in being able to find an imaginary problem and having yet another multi billion dollar, half assed solution for it. The “Invasion at our southern border”, Make America Great Again without providing any facts that show when and how we actually stopped being great in the first place, the rampant corruption and radical leftist agenda of the barely working, low performing, overpaid civil service employees of the federal government, it was Ukraine that started the war with Russia, etc., etc., etc. Frankly, I am bone weary of this crap happening 24/7, 365. They all are traitors and should be arrested and thrown in prison.
Olivia, thank you for this in-depth explanation to the obvious and blatant racism that pervades this present administration. It is egregious and disgraceful and unconscionable. The actors involved (orange man-baby et.al.) might as well be wearing white, pointy hoods. My heart breaks for those many Afghans who helped our soldiers and were promised asylum in return. Keep speaking truth.
As a white South African, now US citizen, who emigrated to the US in the early ‘80’s this is SO on point - these Afrikaners are the furthest thing from refugees - white South Africans remain a privileged minority in a finally democratic South Africa
You left long before the country changed for the worse. My closest friend is afraid to speak out because as she says she could be killed there for doing so. She isn’t white but another minority. From the complete breakdown of government services to the blatant racism by the blacks toward other minorities, to the insane corruption and incompetence, I can totally understand that those Afrikaners could be classified as refugees WITHOUT THE QUOTES as Olivia adds.
As someone who grew up there I remember in the 60's and 70's being afraid to speak out because of the secret police, because of the detention without trial (think habeus corpus) because of the people, white and black who were banned and prevented from meeting with more than 2 non-relatives at a time - I remember Steve Biko and Rick Turner (amongst others) who lost their lives. I also visited earlier this year and the inequalities and segregation persist. Those Afrikaners enjoyed years of privilege and job reservation (euphemism for positions that were preserved for whites) - they are not refugees in any meaningful sense of the word.
The MAGA fascist regime would have been fully supportive of apartheid South Africa.
I studied, fairly extensively, South Africa in college while working on my degree in International Studies. One really has to understand the history of South Africa to have an opinion about this situation. The fact is, South Africa was colonized with the rest of Africa by Europeans (a lot of Dutch settlers) and their problems stem from this, not-so-nice, history. This is not some new phenomena that is happening albeit South Africa's history is long and very complex. Nonetheless, leave it to the Trump regime to pour fuel on the fire for political gain. And, to do so, while we are expelling innocent immigrants is alarming, at best. In other words, bring white South Africans into the United States at this time makes zero sense to the rest of us and can only be viewed as overt racism.
Your perspective is so valuable, and the courage to share that deep understanding of what’s unfolding is an inspiration. Thank you.
Although Trump issued an order stopping refugee access to the country, obviously these people are exceptions. Why? Trump claimed yesterday that they were enduring some form of genocide. Oh, BS! The transparent reason is that they are WHITE!
So, white people are fine, while others are not. This is RACISM! Trump and his MAGAts are BIGOTS --- RACISTS!
I found Landau's comments upon greeting the "refugees" at Dulles particularly disturbing as the horrific white supremacist ideology is obvious.
Landau stated “When you have quality seeds, you can put them in foreign soil and they will blossom. They will bloom. We are excited to welcome you here to our country where we think you will bloom.”
"Quality seeds".....bone-chilling language.
Thank you for laying it all out. It is sickening and so disheartening.
Thank you for explaining this and breaking all of this down. And a big thanks for all your hard work. Trump and his regime are pure evil and racist monsters. Horrible they are and very dangerous. But we appreciate you be safe.💯💙💪🙏🏾💯
"In Trump's second term, the facade has dropped entirely. The South African "refugee" program reveals the true agenda in stark relief. We owe our Afghan allies more. We owe our partners in the faith community more. And we owe ourselves a country that doesn't turn refugee protection into a tool for racist propaganda and political vendettas.
This transcends immigration policy. It strikes at the heart of American values, revealing how quickly truth can erode, how easily humanitarian systems can be corrupted, and how insidiously fascism can disguise itself as "protecting the persecuted." The world sees this charade for what it is, and so must we."
Amen, Olvia. To date, one of the most profound, timely, and poignant pieces you have written. I hoped you would address this and am grateful that you did. Thank you.
Olivia, your perspective is greatly valued! I’m afraid for my friends who have come to the U.S. as refugees who are black or brown. I worry that this regime will not honor their refugee status. I appreciate your view on this very much.
So glad you wrote about this. The actions and power of these white supremacists are bone-chilling. Your words are compassionate, fact-based, and sincere. They provide comfort, like those warm blankets hospitals give you when they sense you need emotional support. Thank you for all you do.
Thank you for this illuminating post. As this country becomes more battered by fascism, the enemy within, we have to be aware of what they're doing to the meaning of words with their revisionist applications of new meanings to words that we have taken for granted to define a particular thing, like refugee. Orwell wrote a lot about this in his novel 1984 and other writing, In the novel 1984, written in 1949, he coined the word Newspeak to explain how this was done. I've borrowed that concept in 2025 to create the phrase MAGA Newspeak, to explain how MAGA is changing our language. You can read more here: https://mbmatthews.substack.com/p/the-tongue-of-maga-newspeak
This is important to acknowledge because democracy doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does to those who use it in the old sense, those who use Oldspeak.
International refugee now means something completely different in MAGA Newspeak than in Oldspeak as you so deftly point out. We have to keep fighting to keep Oldspeak in the vernacular of American democracy. Thank you.
I’ve been going over 1984 as well. Words matter and you nailed it.
I’m grateful for the full truth you provide, details from one who was in the room during the first Trump administration. You have confirmed what looks glaringly shocking and true to me. I’m not a person of color but I’m sure my friends who are have seen the racist motives of this administration all along, and what I’ve suspected is confirmed by this Afrikaner situation. Peter Thiel wasn’t mentioned in this article but I can see his ideological poison running through this situation.
“After consultation with interagency partners, Secretary Noem determined that conditions in Afghanistan no longer meet the statutory requirements. The Secretary’s decision was based on a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review of the country conditions and in consultation with the Department of State. The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions. She further determined that permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States.”
So Puppy Killer Too Much Filler has decided it’s fine for the Afghans that helped us go back to the Taliban. What could go wrong?
This is a disgusting betrayal of our allies. We are sending them back to almost certain death.
Thanks for your work Olivia.
This administration just proves time and again that the Confederacy never fully retreated and the Klan is in full operation in the White House today. They wised up and got rid of the sheets.
Thank you for this Olivia.
Once again the t***p administration creates something out of whole cloth, and we are stunned into inaction and silence by the glaring lack of evidence of this new “you’ve got it all wrong, let me explain to you what is really happening here” problem that only he can fix. These wackos are certified experts in being able to find an imaginary problem and having yet another multi billion dollar, half assed solution for it. The “Invasion at our southern border”, Make America Great Again without providing any facts that show when and how we actually stopped being great in the first place, the rampant corruption and radical leftist agenda of the barely working, low performing, overpaid civil service employees of the federal government, it was Ukraine that started the war with Russia, etc., etc., etc. Frankly, I am bone weary of this crap happening 24/7, 365. They all are traitors and should be arrested and thrown in prison.