Seven Kenyans arrested for illegally working on “refugee” applications in Johannesburg

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, working alongside other law enforcement agencies on Tuesday arrested seven Kenyan nationals following a routine immigration enforcement operation in Johannesburg targeting suspected violations of the country’s immigration laws.

According to the Department, the operation was launched after intelligence reports indicated that several Kenyan nationals had recently entered South Africa on tourist visas but had unlawfully taken up employment at a centre processing applications by individuals described as “refugees” seeking entry to the United States.

Officials said the employment occurred despite earlier work visa applications for Kenyan nationals having been lawfully declined.

During the operation, authorities found seven Kenyans engaged in work activities while holding only tourist visas, a clear breach of their entry conditions.

They were arrested, issued with deportation orders, and will be barred from re-entering South Africa for a period of five years, a statement said.

Home Affairs said the action followed standard procedures that have underpinned a sharp increase in deportations over the past 18 months, as the government intensifies efforts to curb what it describes as long-standing abuse of the immigration and visa system.

The Department emphasized that no U.S. officials were arrested during the operation, that it did not take place at a diplomatic site, and that no members of the public or prospective asylum seekers were harassed.

“This operation underscores our commitment to enforcing the rule of law without fear or favour,” Home Affairs said in a statement, adding that no individual or organization is above South Africa’s immigration laws.

The Department also noted that the action reflects South Africa’s shared commitment with the United States to combat illegal immigration and visa abuse.

However, officials said the apparent coordination between foreign officials and undocumented workers raised serious concerns regarding intent and diplomatic protocol.

As a result, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has initiated formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to address the matter.

Other reports said the South African officials briefly held, then released, two US government employees on assignment in South Africa as part of the Trump administration’s bid to admit Afrikaners to the United States, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

The incident appeared to mark an escalation in the already-tenuous relationship between the United States and South Africa, which has rejected the premise of the Trump administration’s push to admit White South Africans as refugees. It also revealed some of the hiccups and hurdles US personnel have faced in the administration’s unprecedented focus on Afrikaners.

The US government is “seeking immediate clarification from the South African government” and it expects “full cooperation and accountability,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told CNN on Tuesday.

“We’ll have more to say once all the facts are confirmed, but the Trump Administration will always stand up for US interests, US personnel, and the rule of law,” he said. “Interfering in our refugee operations is unacceptable.”

The two were released.

President Donald Trump has justified the administration’s decision to resettle Afrikaners in the US by citing claims that “a genocide is taking place” in South Africa, adding that “White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.”South African authorities have strongly denied such claims.

Over the course of the year, the Trump administration has been conducting what are known as circuit rides to South Africa to interview Afrikaners for possible admission to the United States.

That is done by US Citizenship and Immigration Services personnel who specialize in refugees.

This year, the US set an annual limit of 7,500 refugees—the majority of whom are White South Africans—slashing last year’s ceiling of 125,000 and excluding some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

Almost all refugees have been blocked from entering the US, with the exception of White South Africans, during Trump’s second term.

This week, South African immigration officials visited an office in the country where the US was conducting refugee interviews of Afrikaner applicants.

The South African officials briefly questioned two US government employees and briefly detained Kenyan nationals working with the State Department.

The Amerikaners, an organization that partners with the US to facilitate the admission of Afrikaners, posted on X: “Urgent, fam. USCIS location raided by South African officials.”

In May, Trump met with his South African counterpart, President Cyril Ramaphosa, in the Oval Office. Trump used the meeting to advance the fringe claims — which he’s amplified for months — that White farmers in South Africa are having their land seized and are being killed in massive numbers.

Trump’s fixation on the alleged mistreatment of White South Africans is not a new obsession; he discussed wanting to help White farmers displaced from their land at points during his first term.

The US also recently froze aid to the country, expelled its ambassador, and chose not to invite South Africa to take part in G20 events in the United States, marking the first time a country was outright excluded from them in its more than 20-year history.