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South African immigration authorities raided a United States refugee processing center in Johannesburg and seven Kenyans working there illegally were arrested and given deportation orders, South Africa’s Home Affairs Ministry said Wednesday, as the U.S. called the action “unacceptable.”
Tuesday’s raid occurred at a center that processes applications by white South Africans who have been given priority for refugee status in the U.S. by the Trump administration. It was bound to increase tensions between the countries, whose relations have cooled dramatically since President Donald Trump returned to office.
The Trump administration’s claim that members of South Africa’s Afrikaner white minority group are being persecuted by the Black-led government has been widely rejected, but it has been central to the deterioration of ties between the U.S. and Africa’s most advanced economy.
The Home Affairs Ministry said the Kenyans were in the country on tourist visas which did not allow them to work, adding that U.S. officials’ work with them at the refugee processing center “raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol.”