South African brought to US under refugee scheme made anti-Semitic comments
Charl Kleinhaus, 46, wrote that Jewish people were 'untrustworthy', a 'dangerous group', and 'not God's chosen' in a post two years ago, that has since been deleted.
Mr Kleinhaus was one of the 49 people who boarded a flight from Johannesburg on Sunday night, landing in Washington DC the following day.
After entering the US this week, as part of a refugee programme instituted by Donald Trump, he insisted he was not anti-Semitic and had made the comments accidentally.
In recent months, the Trump administration has attempted to deport pro-Palestinian activists, some of whom have made similar online posts about Israel, on the basis that allowing them to remain in the country would undermine its efforts to combat anti-Semitism and protect the Jewish community.
'Jews are untrustworthy'
'Jews are untrustworthy and a dangerous group they are not God's chosen like to believe they are,' Mr Kleinhaus wrote on social media in April 2023.
'Where is the Temple that must be their concern leave us alone we all believe in the God of Abraham, Moses and Jacob.'
He added: 'I almost said something ugly,' adding an emoji with a zip across its mouth.
Mr Kleinhaus also reportedly shared a video of Christians clashing with Israeli police from a Facebook account called 'Israel is a terrorist state', and captioned it: 'Jews attacking Christians.'
In a statement to The New York Times, he said he had written the social media post by mistake while taking medication for a kidney stone.
'I come from Jewish descendants, and I have huge respect for them,' he added.
He also said on social media this week, in response to criticisms, that his comments were 'someone else's reply which I copied to show to someone', and were 'copy pasted'.
He said in response to The New York Times he was a staunch supporter of Israel, had only meant to re-share the video, and wanted to stand up for Christians.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said last month it would screen foreigners' social media for anti-Semitism as 'grounds for denying immigration benefit requests'.
Mahmoud Khalil
The Trump administration has attempted to deport a number of activists involved in the pro-Palestine protests that swept US campuses last year on the grounds of alleged anti-Semitism, including Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said in April that allowing Mr Khalil to remain in the US would hinder attempts to 'combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States'.
He said in a memo: 'Condoning anti-Semitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective.'
DHS declined to comment to The New York Times whether Mr Kleinhaus would face repercussions for his social media posts. It has been separately approached for comment by The Telegraph.
'The Department of Homeland Security vets all refugee applicants,' it said in a statement.
'Any claims of misconduct are thoroughly investigated, and appropriate action will be taken as necessary.'
Mr Kleinhaus has been approached for comment via Facebook.
In February, Mr Trump signed an executive order to create a refugee programme for white South Africans claiming to face racial discrimination in their home country, after halting almost every other admissions programme.
Mr Trump said on Monday that a 'genocide' was taking place in South Africa against white farmers.
'Farmers are being killed, they happen to be white, but whether they're white or black makes no difference to me,' he said.
His claims have been denied by Ronald Lamoa, South Africa's foreign minister, who said this week there was 'no persecution of white Afrikaner South Africans'. The country's foreign ministry denies that those who flew to the US from Johannesburg this week are refugees.
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