Trump sets lowest-ever refugee cap. See how other presidents compare.

Data: Migration Policy Institute; Chart: Jacque Schrag/AxiosThe Trump administration won't allow more than 7,500 refugees to enter America in FY2026, a record-low cap that prioritizes admitting Afrikaners, or white South Africans, into the country.Why it matters: The plunge cements the president's sharp pivot away from America's historic refugee policies and stands in stark contrast to the 125,000 refugees admitted under the last year of the Biden administration.What they're saying: "The Trump administration has long expressed its intention to end Biden's abuse of the refugee program," a senior administration official told Axios in an emailed statement."No refugees will be admitted in FY26 until the appropriate consultations with Congress are held," the official said, noting that those conversations are on hold until the government reopens.The White House and the State Department provided Axios with the same statement. Homeland Security declined to comment.What's inside: The new cap, which will be officially published Friday in the Federal Register, says that the 7,500 level is "justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.""The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa," which the administration claims have been "victims of unjust racial discrimination."The memo expands to other groups, including those who have been "victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands."Catch up quick: In May, the administration welcomed a group of Afrikaners, the white ethnic minority that implemented apartheid in South Africa, to the U.S.Apartheid was a "harsh, institutionalized system of racial segregation" that stretched from 1948 until the early 1990s, according to the State Department.Some Afrikaners have claimed they faced employment and racial discrimination in the country in the years since, an allegation South African President Cyril Ramaphosa denies.Reality check: Trump has falsely accused South Africa of unfairly seizing Afrikaners' agricultural property and allowing attacks against white farmers.South African-born Elon Musk, a former Trump adviser, has peddled conspiracy theories that his native country is "pushing for genocide of white people."Grok, the AI chatbot incorporated into Musk's X, responded unprompted to users with misleading claims about the alleged "white genocide" in South Africa.Context: The belief in a "white genocide" is closely linked to a once-fringe idea called "white replacement theory," which imagines a plot to change nations' racial composition by enacting policies that reduce whites' political power.There's no evidence that white South African farmers are experiencing a spike in violence, despite a few high-profile cases.By the numbers: The first time Trump was able to set refugee levels in FY2018, he authorized 45,000 refugees, down 110,000 from the year before – the lowest cap ever implemented at the time.By the end of his first term, Trump authorized 15,000 admissions.Biden raised that cap to 62,500 in his first year in office to reflect the "urgent need to respond to the growing and urgent humanitarian crises," and restore the U.S.' "global humanitarian leadership."The other side: The International Rescue Committee said they were "deeply disappointed" by the new cap in a statement released on Thursday."This year's resettlement levels should extend America's offer of safety to those refugees who are most at-risk, including more than 100,000 who have passed all vetting and are waiting patiently in line," they wrote, referring to the administration's efforts to end the refugee resettlement program earlier this year."If not, the refugee admissions cap that has been announced for 2026 will leave families separated and vulnerable individuals stranded."Go deeper: Trump's open door to white South Africans buys into conspiracy theoryRussell Contreras contributed to this report.

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