U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued guidance Monday intended to bar transgender women athletes from obtaining “extraordinary ability” visas to travel to the United States to compete in elite-level female sporting events.
According to NBC News, citing initial reporting by The Daily Wire, the guidance builds on an executive order President Donald Trump issued during the early weeks of the second term of his presidency that intended to bar trans women from competing in female sports.
NBC's Jo Yurcaba reported that the guidance doesn’t use the word “transgender” or refer to trans women. Instead, it refers to “male athletes” who seek to compete in women’s sports.
Matthew Tragesser, a spokesperson for USCIS, said in a statement that the agency is “closing the loophole for foreign male athletes whose only chance at winning elite sports is to change their gender identity and leverage their biological advantages against women.”
“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,” Tragesser said in the statement. “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 three visa categories for people who possess “extraordinary ability” in science, art, education, business or athletics, per Yurcaba's NBC report. The updated guidance clarifies that USCIS “considers the fact that a male athlete has been competing against women as a negative factor” in determining whether they are among the top in the sport.
"Only a handful of trans athletes have ever competed in the Olympics," Yurcaba reported. "Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first out trans athlete to compete in the Olympics in the Tokyo Games in 2021, though she did not medal. American skateboarder Alana Smith and Canadian soccer star Quinn also competed in the Tokyo Games, and Quinn became the first nonbinary and trans athlete to ever medal when their team won gold that year."
