Let’s be crystal clear: the first white South Africans ushered into America under Trump’s so-called refugee program weren’t random victims or struggling farmers. They were handpicked members of the country’s most powerful and privileged class. At the top of the list were the commercial farming elite—wealthy landowners who controlled massive cattle, wine, and crop operations. These families had generational land ties going back to colonial times and held strong influence over South Africa’s agricultural exports. They didn’t leave with nothing. They arrived with wealth, assets, and international business ties already in place. Right behind them were private security and defense insiders. Some had deep backgrounds in South Africa’s controversial paramilitary and private policing industries. A few even had consulting relationships with global defense companies. This was not an exodus of the powerless—it was a calculated relocation of people with knowledge of enforcement, control, and surveillance systems. Mining and energy industry veterans also found their way to the front of the line. These individuals once held top positions in the lucrative gold, diamond, and platinum mining sectors. Their skills, and their deep connections to Western corporations, made them perfect candidates for Trump’s vision of an elite, deregulated workforce. Lastly, a smaller but significant group included tech entrepreneurs and finance players. Some came straight from crypto startups and fintech ventures. They weren’t looking for safety—they were looking for fresh markets, weaker regulations, and bigger opportunities. This wasn’t charity. It was strategy. Trump and his allies didn’t open the gates for the oppressed or the marginalized. They fast-tracked a wealthy, resourceful, and mostly Afrikaner power class—a group perfectly poised to integrate into the administration’s larger plan for a new white capitalist elite in America. They didn’t just come to survive. They came to build—and to take.
