Trans female foreign athletes face new hurdles to compete in US: ‘Men do not belong in women's sports'
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance Monday saying foreign athletes who are born male and transition to female will have their gender status working against them when they apply for a visa for competitions in America.
'Men do not belong in women's sports,' USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement. 'USCIS 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.
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3 Trans female former college swimmer Lia Thomas (left) ignited a firestorm when she was allowed to compete against women including Riley Gaines, who has heavily criticized the situation.
USA TODAY Sports
'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 rep said. 'The Trump Administration is standing up for the silent majority who've long been victims of leftist policies that defy common sense.'
The agency did not come right out and say it was issuing a complete ban on foreign trans female athletes entering the US for sporting events but described the new rules as restrictive.
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But the policy change is significant as it comes ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the US is co-hosting alongside Canada and Mexico, as well as the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The move is in line with President Trump's February 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which declared US opposition to 'male competitive participation in women's sports.'
3 President Trump takes executive action in February to ensure what he called safeguarding women's sports.
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'In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes, and we're just not going to let it happen, and it's going to end, and it's ending right now, and nobody's going to be able to do a damn thing about it,' Trump said at the time.
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Polls indicate that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe it is unfair to allow transgender athletes to compete against biological women.
The updated immigration guidance, first reported by the Daily Wire, notes that USCIS doesn't use the term transgender and simply refers to the trans female athletes as being born male.
Foreign athletes have frequently been able to obtain US visas in the past because of the 'extraordinary abilities' they bring to the country, according to the law.
3 The US Citizenship and Immigration Services operates under the Department of Homeland Security.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
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But 'USCIS does not consider a male athlete who has gained acclaim in men's sports and seeks to compete in women's sports in the United States to be seeking to continue work in his area of extraordinary ability,' a press release from the agency said.
'It is not in the national interest to the United States to waive the job offer and, thus, the labor certification requirement for male athletes whose proposed endeavor is to compete in women's sports.'
The Trump administration has broadly worked to clamp down on visas and illegal crossings in general.
On Monday, the State Department filed a notice of plans to set up a visa bond pilot program in which migrants would have to put money down to enter the US. They would have to leave the US on time when their visas expire in order to get those funds returned.
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