South African immigration authorities raid a US refugee processing center

South African authorities say a center processing applications for the United States refugee program was…

AP News

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A United States refugee processing center in Johannesburg was raided by immigration authorities, South Africa’s Home Affairs Ministry said Wednesday while denying any U.S. officials were arrested or applicants harassed.

Seven Kenyan nationals were arrested during the operation on Tuesday while working illegally at the center which processes applications by white South Africans who have been given priority for refugee status in the U.S. by the Trump administration after claims they are being persecuted by the Black-led government.

That claim over the treatment of members of South Africa’s Afrikaner white minority group has been widely rejected but has been central to the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Africa’s most advanced economy since President Donald Trump returned to office.

The Home Affairs Ministry said the detained Kenyans were working at the site while in the country on tourist visas which did not allow them to work, and U.S. officials working with the “undocumented workers” at the center “raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol.”

It said no U.S. officials were arrested in the raid and it was not a diplomatic site.