The Trump administration notified Congress Tuesday that it plans to cap refugee admissions at 17,500 for the coming fiscal year, with most of those available spots going to white South Africans.

In the notice, the administration said Afrikaners face land seizures, employment and other policies it considers discriminatory, as well as violence and other forms of persecution. The administration also said Afrikaners are expected to assimilate into American society while preserving taxpayer resources.

The South African government has repeatedly rejected the characterization of Afrikaners as a persecuted minority, arguing that policies affecting the country's white minority are intended to address inequalities left by apartheid.

The administration expects the resettlement effort under the 17,500-person ceiling to cost approximately $500 million. Nearly 3,000 refugees had been admitted to the United States during the current fiscal year through August, and all but three were South African, according to State Department data.

The refugee program has undergone major changes since Trump returned to office. His administration initially suspended refugee admissions before reopening the program with a focus on Afrikaners. Last year, the administration initially set the refugee ceiling at 7,500 before increasing it to 17,500 after citing developments in South Africa.

The new plan continues the administration's broader shift in how the refugee program is being used, with Afrikaners receiving priority while refugee admissions from other countries remain sharply restricted. Organizations that work with refugees have criticized the policy, while the administration has pointed to the conditions it says Afrikaners face in South Africa.