Twin Falls has taken in 37 Afrikaner refugees amid federal resettlement change

Twin Falls, Idaho, has received 37 refugees from South Africa known as Afrikaners since May, a sharp change for the small city that has long resettled people from countries such as Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar. The Trump administration suspended the U.S. refugee program on his first day in the White House and later announced it would make an exception to admit Afrikaners, the article said.

The administration also set a new ceiling of 7,500 refugees for the coming year, and said an overwhelming majority of them would be Afrikaners. Twin Falls typically received 200 to 350 refugees a year; since May, all 37 new arrivals there have been Afrikaners, and the city took in nine of the first 59 Afrikaners admitted in 2025.

Refugees have been an important part of Twin Falls’s economy and community, helping build its dairy industry and filling jobs at companies cited in the article such as Chobani and Idaho Milk Products. “No matter where you come from, there is opportunity to achieve the American dream in Twin Falls, clichéd as that may sound,” said Shawn Barigar, the city’s director of economic development.

The labor market is tight, with unemployment hovering around 3.5 percent, and employers and local officials warned of potential impacts if refugee inflows change: “The refugee program has been a source of motivated, qualified talent,” Daragh Maccabee said.

Key Topics

Politics, Twin Falls, Afrikaners, Trump Administration, Refugee Resettlement, Chobani