White South African refugees fall foul of Republican driving rules in US midwest

Onerous and costly restrictions aimed at immigrants cause difficulties for group prioritized by Trump for admission Among President Trump’s most vocal supporters are South Africans seeking asylum in the US. An estimated 6,300 people have arrived in the US since the administration’s announcement in February last year of a refugee resettlement program specifically for white South Africans and other minorities. So far, 206 Afrikaners have resettled in Ohio, a state that has struggled with population decline for decades. The Trump administration recently announced it plans to increase by 10,000 the number of refugee resettlement places for South Africans this year. But since arriving in the US, Afrikaners – largely the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Dutch settlers and French Huguenots – have faced major challenges, in large part due to policies aimed at immigrants and enacted by the White House and Ohio’s Republican-run legislature. Last June, Ohio introduced new driving license rules for lawful residents who are not citizens or green card holders. They include the requirement for all applicants to complete eight hours of lessons through a designated driving school, 24 hours of clas