Trump Administration Will Not Issue Visas to Foreign Transgender Athletes

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency, announced that it will no longer be granting visas to biological males trying to compete in women’s sports.

In a press release, USCIS explained that it would “affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities by granting certain athlete-related petitions and applications, that had previously been abused and offered to men, only to women.” The press release added that this would ensure that biological foreign males “seeking immigration benefits aren’t coming to the U.S. to participate in women’s sports.”

“Men do not belong in women’s sports,” USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser explained in a statement, adding that the agency was “closing the loophole for foreign male athletes whose only chance at winning elite sports is to change their gender identity.”

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Tragesser added, “It’s a matter of safety, fairness, respect, and truth that only female athletes receive a visa to come to the U.S. to participate in women’s sports. The Trump Administration is standing up for the silent majority who’ve long been victims of leftist policies that defy common sense.”

The policy update applies to Volumes 2 and 6 of the USCIS Policy Manual, and is effective immediately, according to the press release.

The press release added:

USCIS has clarified eligibility for certain visa categories: O-1A aliens of extraordinary ability, E11 aliens of extraordinary ability, E21 aliens of exceptional ability, and for national interest waivers (NIWs), to guarantee an even playing field for all women’s athletics in the United States.

The policy update from USCIS comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” Under the executive order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem were directed to “review and adjust, as needed, policies permitting admission to the United States of males seeking to participate in women’s sports, and shall issue guidance with an objective of preventing such entry to the extent permitted by law.”