By GERALD IMRAY, Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The Trump administration brought a small number of white South Africans to the United States as refugees Monday. It says it’s the start of a larger relocation effort for members of the minority Afrikaner group who are being persecuted by their Black-led government because of their race.

The 59 South Africans had their applications fast-tracked by the U.S. after President Donald Trump announced the relocation program in February. He said Monday that white Afrikaner farmers are facing a “genocide” in their homeland, an allegation strongly denied by the South African government.

The Trump administration has taken an anti-migrant stance, suspending refugee programs and halting arrivals from other parts of the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan and most countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Refugee groups have questioned why the white South Africans are being prioritized.

South Africa says there’s no persecution

The South African government said the U.S. allegations that Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of its country. It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in the country, and said they are amongst “the most economically privileged.”

Afrikaner refugees from South Africa arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Afrikaners are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to South Africa in the 17th century. There are around 2.7 million Afrikaners among South Africa’s population of 62 million, which is more than 80% Black. Many in South Africa are puzzled by claims that they are persecuted.

Afrikaners are South Africa’s largest white group and part of the country’s everyday multi-racial life. Many are successful business leaders and some serve in government. Their language, Afrikaans, is widely spoken — including by non-Afrikaners — and is recognized as an official language, and churches and other institutions reflecting Afrikaner culture hold prominence in almost every city and town.

Afrikaners were the leaders of the apartheid system of white minority rule that ended in 1994.

So what persecution is the U.S. alleging?

Farm attacks

Trump and his South African-born adviser Elon Musk have accused the South African government of having racist anti-white laws and policies, but the claims of persecution and genocide center on a relatively small number of violent farm attacks and robberies on white people in rural communities.

The U.S. alleges those attacks are racially motivated and the South African government is “fueling” them by allowing anti-white rhetoric in politics and not doing enough to protect Afrikaner communities. The government has condemned the farm attacks, but says their cause is being deliberately mischaracterized.

Afrikaner refugees from South Africa holding American flags arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Violent attacks on farm owners in South Africa have been a problem for years but represent a small percentage of the country’s extremely high violent crime rates, which affect all races. The government says there is no targeting of white people and farm attacks are part of its struggles with crime.

Groups representing farmers have recorded around 50 or less farm homicides a year in the last two years in South Africa. Those figures are set against a total of more than 20,000 homicides a year affecting all races.

“There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners in particular,” South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said. “White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans.”

Still, many rural white communities have long expressed fear at the threat of violence and feel attacks against them in home invasions and robberies are especially brutal.

“So, we’ve essentially extended citizenship to those people … to escape from that violence and come here,” Trump said.

Affirmative action and ‘reverse racism’

The Trump administration has also criticized South Africa’s affirmative action policies as racist against whites and has falsely claimed white South Africans are having their land taken away by the government under a new expropriation law that promotes “racially discriminatory property confiscation.”

Afrikaner refugees from South Africa arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

No land has been expropriated, but Afrikaners who make up many rural communities have raised fears their land might be targeted.

South Africa has laws designed to advance employment opportunities for Blacks, and many white South Africans and white-led political parties have also criticized them and called them racist and counter-productive.

Some Afrikaner groups say the employment, land and other laws are designed to specifically limit their opportunities in South Africa in a kind of reverse racism as punishment for Afrikaners’ role in apartheid. The government rejects that and says the laws are designed to give Blacks access to jobs and land they were denied under apartheid.

Not the only racial minority in South Africa

Afrikaners are not the only racial minority in South Africa, and not the only white minority. South Africa also has nearly 2 million white people with British or other heritage.

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The Trump administration’s program initially only referred to Afrikaners. But in new guidelines released by the U.S. Embassy on Monday, applicants for refugee status must be “of Afrikaner ethnicity or be a member of a racial minority in South Africa.” Other racial minorities include a group of around 5 million with biracial heritage, as well as people with Indian and other south Asian heritage.

It’s not clear how many South Africans have applied for or been granted refugee status, but U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the administration would welcome more Afrikaners as refugees in the coming months.

Associated Press writers Michelle Gumede and Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

Meteorologist Wren Clair will return to the airwaves at KARE 11. Her first day is May 19.

“We’re excited to have Wren join the team of talented meteorologists at KARE 11. Her expertise in weather forecasting and commitment to viewers aligns perfectly with our station’s mission,” said KARE 11 president and general manager Doug Wieder.

Former KSTP-TV meteorologist Wren Clair has landed a new job at KARE 11. (Courtesy of KSTP)

Clair surprised viewers when she departed KSTP-TV in February after nearly seven years at the station. She has not spoken publicly about it and, at the time, KSTP news director Kirk Varner said: “Wren Clair is no longer employed by KSTP-TV. We wish her the best with her next opportunity.”

The Hopkins native joined KSTP’s weather team in June 2018. After chief meteorologist Dave Dahl retired in 2020, she took over as the primary evening meteorologist for “5 Eyewitness News.”

Clair holds a master of science degree in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University, a bachelor of science in meteorology degree from Mississippi State University and degrees in chemistry and anthropology from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, according to a now-deleted biography on KSTP’s website.

A member of the American Meteorological Society, Clair worked at stations in Rhinelander, Wis., and Boston, where she covered historic flooding in January 2018, before moving to KSTP. She also worked as a chemist for five years and was part of multiple publications, primarily related to organic synthesis.

Clair has tutored math and science off and on since high school and has taught GED-seeking students through Neighborhood House in the Wellstone Center in St. Paul. She has also spent time volunteering at Union Gospel Mission’s dental clinic, as well as previously running the children’s dental outreach program.

It appears Clair is not currently active on social media beyond Linkedin, where she recently updated her experience to include “Meteorologist & MSJ” at KARE 11.

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By MICHAEL CASEY and COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Harvard University responded Monday to recent threats from the Education Department to halt its grant funding, highlighting reforms it was undertaking but warning it won’t budge on “its core, legally-protected principles” over fears of retaliation.

A letter from Harvard President Alan Garber detailed how the institution had made significant changes to its leadership and governance over the past year and a half. Among the reforms, Garber said, was a broad “strategy to combat antisemitism and other bigotry.”

Last week, the Department of Education threatened a grant freeze in a major escalation of Trump’s battle with the Ivy League school. The administration previously froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, and Trump is pushing to strip the school of its tax-exempt status.

Garber warned that its efforts to change were being “undermined and threatened by the federal government’s overreach into the constitutional freedoms of private universities and its continuing disregard of Harvard’s compliance with the law.”

“Consistent with the law and with our own values, we continue to pursue needed reforms, doing so in consultation with our stakeholders and always in compliance with the law,” Garber wrote. “But Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government.”

An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In call with reporters last week, a Department of Education official accused Harvard of “serious failures.” The person, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said Harvard has allowed antisemitism and racial discrimination to perpetuate, it has abandoned rigorous academic standards, and it has failed to allow a range of views on its campus.

To become eligible for new grants, Harvard would need to enter negotiations with the federal government and prove it has satisfied the administration’s requirements.

The demands come amid a pressure campaign targeting several other high-profile universities. The administration has cut off money to colleges including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, seeking compliance with Trump’s agenda.

The White House says it’s targeting campus antisemitism after pro-Palestinian protests swept U.S. college campuses last year. It’s also focused on the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports. And the attacks on Harvard increasingly have called out the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, along with questions about freedom of speech and thought by conservatives on campus.

Harvard has filed a federal lawsuit over the administration’s demands, setting up a closely watched clash in Trump’s attempt to force change at universities that he says have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.

In his letter Monday, Garber also attempted to rebut many of the allegations made by the Education Department. He insisted admission to Harvard was based on “academic excellence and promise” and there were no “quotas, whether based on race or ethnicity or any other characteristic” or an “ideological litmus tests” when it comes to hiring.

Garber also dismissed the suggestion that Harvard was a partisan institution and said he wasn’t aware of any evidence suggesting international students were “more prone to disruption, violence, or other misconduct than any other students.”

Collin Binkley has covered Harvard for nearly a decade – most of the time living half a mile from campus.

A listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat sandwiches and snacks has sickened at least 10 people in the U.S., and a producer is voluntarily recalling dozens of products sold to retail stores, hospitals, hotels, airports and airlines, federal officials said.

The products were made by Fresh & Ready Foods LLC and were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington.

Those who fell ill and were hospitalized were in California and Nevada. The outbreak has been simmering for many months: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases date to December 2023.

Listeria poisoning is caused by a particularly resilient type of bacteria that can survive and grow even during refrigeration. About 1,600 people are infected with it — and 260 die — each year in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Here’s what you need to know:

What was recalled?

The voluntary recall covers more than 80 specific products distributed between April 18 and April 25. The products have “Use By” dates from April 22 to May 19.

Brand names include: Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go and Fresh Take Crave Away.

Federal officials say anyone with the products should throw them away or return them. They also suggest cleaning any surfaces that touched the recalled foods.

Where does listeria come from?

Listeria bacteria thrive in moist environments, including soil and water and decaying vegetation and are carried by some animals.

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The hardy germs are typically spread when food is harvested, processed, transported or stored in places that are contaminated with the bacteria.

When the bacteria get into a food processing plant, they can be tough to eradicate.

What are the symptoms of listeria?

Foods contaminated with the bacteria can make people sick. Symptoms can be mild and include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More serious illness can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.

Listeria poisoning is tricky because symptoms can start quickly, within a few hours or days after eating contaminated food. But they also can take weeks or up to three months to show up.

Those most vulnerable to getting sick include the very young, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.

Does cooking kill listeria?

Listeria can survive and grow in refrigerated food. It can be killed by heating foods to “steaming hot,” or 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius), the CDC says. But that’s not always possible — or palatable — for foods that are made to be eaten cold.

Because listeria can survive under refrigeration, it’s important to clean and sanitize any surfaces, including refrigerator drawers and shelves, that may have come in contact with the products.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.