A group of 59 white South Africans has arrived in the US, where they are to be granted refugee status.
According to BBC, President Donald Trump has said the refugee applications for the country's Afrikaner minority had been expedited as they were victims of "racial discrimination".
The South African government said the group were not suffering any such persecution that would merit refugee status.
The Trump administration has halted all other refugee admissions, including for applicants from warzones. Human Rights Watch described the move as a cruel racial twist, saying that thousands of people - many black and Afghan refugees - had been denied refuge in the US.
The group of white South Africans, who landed at Dulles airport near Washington DC on Monday, received a warm welcome from US authorities.
Some held young children and waved small American flags in the arrival area adorned with red, white and blue balloons on the walls.
The processing of refugees in the US often takes months, even years, but this group has been fast tracked. UNHCR - the United Nations refugee agency - confirmed to the BBC it wasn't involved in the vetting, as is usually the case.
Asked directly on Monday why the Afrikaners' refugee applications had been processed faster than other groups, Trump said a "genocide" was taking place and that "white farmers" specifically were being targeted.
"Farmers are being killed, they happen to be white, but whether they're white or black makes no difference to me."
But South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he told Trump during a phone call the US assessment of the situation was "not true."
