Donald Trump has been accused of reaching a "new low point" after his administration drastically cut the number of refugees it will allow into the US.
It's being slashed from 125,000 to 7,500, with priority given to white South Africans.
The new total for the 2026 fiscal year is "justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest", a note from the government's Federal Registry said.
Not only is the figure down on the 125,000 set by Joe Biden's administration last year, it's also just half of the 15,000 allowed under the first Trump presidency in 2021 - at the height of the pandemic.
Refugee rights groups were quick to condemn the move.
Human Rights First president, Uzra Zeya, called it a "new low point" in US foreign policy, while International Refugee Assistance Project president Sharif Aly accused Mr Trump of "politicising a humanitarian programme".
In May, Mr Trump confronted South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in the White House to echo claims made by Elon Musk that white farmers in his nation were being killed and "persecuted".
Read more from Sky News:
Tariffs change after 'amazing' Xi talks
Is Trump preparing for war with Venezuela?
US kills 14 in 'drug boat' attacks
A video purporting to show burial sites for murdered white farmers was played but was later shown to be scenes from a 2020 protest in which the crosses represented farmers killed over multiple years.
The South African government has vehemently denied that Afrikaners and other white South Africans are being persecuted.
In January, the US president suspended the US Refugee Admissions Programme to, in his words, allow authorities to prioritise national security and public safety.
During the Oval Office meeting, Mr Ramaphosa said only that he hoped Trump officials would listen to South Africans about the issue, and later said he believed there is "doubt and disbelief about all this in [Mr Trump's] head".
(c) Sky News 2025: Donald Trump announces dramatic drop in US refugee intake, with most of them white South Afri
Before and after images of Jamaica show destruction left by Hurricane Melissa
UK charters flights to help transport British nationals out of Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa
Climate change made Hurricane Melissa four times more likely, say scientists
Defiance in the West Bank - despite encroaching threat from 'unwanted neighbours'
Five new arrests in Louvre heist investigation - with one suspect 'traced via DNA'
World Athletics blames employees for £1.3m taken in 'systematic theft'
Trump's upbeat opinion of his meeting with Xi brushes over thornier issues
Netherlands election: Geert Wilders' far-right party suffers blow as centrists lead in exit poll
IOC and Saudi Arabia end 12-year Esports deal early
