Hours after he took office, Trump shut down the refugee resettlement program, effectively ending a pathway for refugees to secure asylum in the U.S. and choking off all funding for refugee resettlement.

The newly arrived people are from the ethnic minority of Afrikaners, the group of whites who ruled South Africa during apartheid.

By Daphne Psaledakis, Tim Cocks and Simon Lewis WASHINGTON/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The Trump administration welcomed on Monday 59 white South Africans it granted refugee status in the U.S., having deemed them victims of racial discrimination,