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The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday it is updating visa guidelines to prevent male athletes from entering the United States to compete in women’s athletic events, aligning with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
New guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will block transgender women from obtaining temporary work visas for athletic competition in female categories.
The change applies to three categories of visas granted to individuals with “exceptional” or “extraordinary” ability in fields such as science, the arts, education, business or athletics. It also applies to national interest waivers, which allow individuals to seek permanent residency if their work benefits the country.
The guidance, effective immediately, does not use the term “transgender,” instead referring to transgender women as “male athletes.”
Matthew Tragesser, a spokesperson for USCIS, said 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. “The Trump Administration is standing up for the silent majority who’ve long been victims of leftist policies that defy common sense.”
According to the updated guidance, USCIS will consider participation by male athletes in women’s sports as a “negative factor” when evaluating whether an individual qualifies as being among the top in their field. The agency also stated that it is not in the national interest to waive labor certification for male athletes whose primary purpose is to compete in women’s events.
The move follows an executive order Trump signed in February declaring that it is the policy of the United States “to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports.” The order directed DHS to review visa policies to prevent “males falsely asserting they are females” from entering the country to compete.
At a signing ceremony for the executive order, Trump reaffirmed his stance on the issue.
“We’re just not going to let it happen,” he said. “It’s ending right now, and nobody’s going to be able to do a damn thing about it because when I speak, we speak with authority.”
The policy shift comes ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, which are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles.