The Trump administration is resettling white South Africans in the U.S. The Washington Post’s Teo Armus has the story. With ceasefire talks set to begin, Netanyahu resolved to use “full force” in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Bloomberg News has more. The Wall Street Journal’s Mark Maremont explains how a nationwide rise in gun ownerships and stand-your-ground laws contributed to an increase in self-defense insurance policies. Plus, a former girlfriend of Sean Combs gave evidence at his criminal trial, the Menendez brothers were resentenced and could get parole, and why Pete Rose’s baseball Hall of Fame ban has been lifted.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 14th. I'm Shamitza Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, as ceasefire talks are set to begin, Netanyahu resolves to use full force in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Why more American gun owners are turning to self-defense insurance. And the Menendez brothers have been re-sentenced and they get parole.
But first, one of President Trump's first acts in office was to suspend the humanitarian designation meant for refugees fleeing war or persecution. Earlier this week, a group of about 50 white South Africans arrived at Dulles Airport in Virginia under that exact humanitarian designation.
They're all Afrikaners, which means that they're sort of a minority white group descended from Dutch settlers in South Africa. Teo Armas covers immigration for The Washington Post.
So broadly speaking, the Trump administration has really tried to crack down on all forms of immigration, both authorized and unauthorized. And this is the first batch of refugees to have been resettled in the United States since Trump's first day in office.
Afrikaners governed the country as an apartheid state for 40 years. As the Wall Street Journal puts it, during that period, they were the architects of a racist state, subjecting Black South Africans to segregation, having taken much of their land. But today, President Trump and Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, say white South Africans have become the victims.
What they point to is a land redistribution law that was recently passed. Today, white people in South Africa account for about 7% of the population. They own about three-quarters of individual farms and agricultural holdings. The newly passed redistribution law attempts to correct that imbalance.
Trump was really incensed by this and in February issued an executive order cutting off aid to South Africa and then setting into course the sorts of government procedures that resulted in a plane arriving at Dulles Airport in Virginia earlier this week.
Just to say, under that new law, no one has had their land taken, and any land seizures that could take place would need a judge's approval. Beyond this law, Trump and Musk also claim that there is a genocide taking place in South Africa against white people, particularly white farmers. And while there have been murders of white farmers, there are more such incidents against Black South Africans.
The South African international relations minister basically said the folks who got on the plane, they can't provide any proof of persecution because there isn't any proof of persecution. Basically flat out denying that there is any form of persecution in South Africa towards white South Africans.
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