Rubio says South Africa must protect White farmers, US will offer admission to those facing violence

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said White South Africans facing threats of violence would be welcomed in the United States. 

Rubio’s position comes amid tension between the South African government and the Trump administration over that country’s land expropriation law and its anti-Israel stance. 

In a post on X, Rubio referred to the “Kill the Boer,” an old anti-apartheid chant that critics say is a call to anti-White violence and has been used to refer to White farmers. 

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“South Africa’s leaders and politicians must take action to protect Afrikaner and other disfavored minorities,” Rubio wrote on Monday. “The United States is proud to offer those individuals who qualify for admission to our nation amid this continued horrible threat of violence.”

The Trump administration has pushed back against South Africa’s expropriation law, as well as its stance against Israel. 

The land expropriation law allows the government to make land seizures without compensation. In February, Trump issued an executive order penalizing South Africa.

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“In shocking disregard of its citizens’ rights, the Republic of South Africa recently enacted Expropriation Act 13 of 2024, to enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation,” the order states. 

In addition, South Africa has accused Israel in the International Court of Justice of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The country is also growing closer with Iran, with plans to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.

Earlier this month, Rubio announced that South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. was no longer welcome in the country. In a post on X, Rubio called Embrahim Rasool a “race-baiting” politician who hates America and Trump.

Rasool addressed the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) in Johannesburg when he said Trump’s Make America Great Again movement a White supremacist response to demographic changes in the U.S. In response, Rubio declared the ambassador “PERSONA NON GRATA,” meaning not welcome. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the South African Embassy in Washington D.C.