To stop transgender women from coming to the United States to compete in high-level women’s athletic events, the Department of Homeland Security will revise its visa regulations.
Advice was released by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.As initially reported by the conservative news website The Daily Wire, Monday was set aside to prevent trans women athletes from acquiring extraordinary ability visas to participate in female sports. The directive expands on an executive order that President Donald Trump signed in the first few weeks of his administration with the goal of prohibiting transgender women from participating in female-only sports.
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Instead of using the term “transgender” or referring to trans women, the guidelines discuss male athletes who want to participate in women’s sports.
According to a statement from USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser, the agency is closing the gap for foreign male athletes who have no other option but to change their gender identification and use their biological advantages against women in order to compete in elite sports.
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“The fact that only female athletes are granted visas to enter the United States to compete in women’s sports is a matter of safety, fairness, respect, and truth,” Tragesser said in the statement. The silent majority, who have long been harmed by leftist policies that contradict common sense, are being supported by the Trump Administration.
Three visa categories for people with exceptional talent in science, art, education, business, or athletics are covered by the policy amendment. National interest waivers are also impacted; if an applicant can demonstrate that their employment advances the national interest, they may self-petition to have the labor certification for a green card waived.
According to the amended guidance, USCIS views a male athlete’s history of competing against women as a detriment when assessing whether or not they are among the best in their field.
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According to the guidance, it is not in the best interests of the United States to exempt trans women athletes who want to participate in women’s sports from the labor certification requirement.
When asked if there are recent instances of trans female athletes entering the country under the impacted visa categories or how many persons would be impacted by the new policy, USCIS did not reply.
About 25,000 international student athletes participate in NCAA sports out of the more than 500,000 who do so annually, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the nonprofit organization that oversees collegiate athletics. Charlie Baker, the president of the NCAA, told a Senate committee in December that he is aware of less than ten transgender athletes, though the exact number is unknown.
Athletes who intended to attend the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles might have been impacted by the USCIS policy change, but last month the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee prohibited trans women from participating in female sports.
There are very few transgender athletes that have ever participated in an Olympic competition. Although she did not win a medal, weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. Both Canadian soccer player Quinn and American skateboarder Alana Smith participated in the Tokyo Games; Quinn’s team won gold that year, making him the first nonbinary and trans athlete to ever win a medal.
