Trump administration bars trans women athletes from 'extraordinary ability’ visas

The Department of Homeland Security will update visa policies to prevent transgender women from traveling to the United States to participate in elite women’s sporting events.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued guidance Monday intended to bar trans women athletes from obtaining “extraordinary ability” visas to compete in female sports, the conservative news website The Daily Wire first reported. 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.

The guidance doesn’t use the word “transgender” or refer to trans women; rather, 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. It also affects national interest waivers, which allow applicants to self-petition to waive the labor certification for green cards if they can show that their work serves the national interest.

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.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSNew AI tool for voters offers a specialized chatbot to explain your ballot

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat the rural data center boom looks like, from the people who have lived through it

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInteractive map: How far do you live from the nearest data center?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSiPhone Duo review: The good, bad and the buggy

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnger over rising prices could be decisive in Alaska’s unusually close Senate race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ weighs election litigation against more states

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP Senate hopeful Ashley Hinson balances standing by Trump and standing up to him in Iowa

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInside the reopened U.S. Embassy in Caracas

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAIPAC shifts tactics amid voter frustration with Israel

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe viral attack ad featuring an estranged mother

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. troops and diplomats evacuating Middle East posts, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBogus trans youth brochure rattles Texas voters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWho knew a basket could be sexy? How ‘Wicker’ became fall’s surprise must-see

FOR SUBSCRIBERSExperts explain how an AI kill switch could work

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCalifornia’s billionaire tax faces a mountain of opposition — and not just from the rich

Slide 1 of 1

The guidance adds that it is not in the national interest of the United States to waive the labor certification requirement for trans women athletes “whose proposed endeavor is to compete in women’s sports.”

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSNew AI tool for voters offers a specialized chatbot to explain your ballot

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat the rural data center boom looks like, from the people who have lived through it

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInteractive map: How far do you live from the nearest data center?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSiPhone Duo review: The good, bad and the buggy

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnger over rising prices could be decisive in Alaska’s unusually close Senate race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ weighs election litigation against more states

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP Senate hopeful Ashley Hinson balances standing by Trump and standing up to him in Iowa

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInside the reopened U.S. Embassy in Caracas

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAIPAC shifts tactics amid voter frustration with Israel

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe viral attack ad featuring an estranged mother

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. troops and diplomats evacuating Middle East posts, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBogus trans youth brochure rattles Texas voters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWho knew a basket could be sexy? How ‘Wicker’ became fall’s surprise must-see

FOR SUBSCRIBERSExperts explain how an AI kill switch could work

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCalifornia’s billionaire tax faces a mountain of opposition — and not just from the rich

Slide 1 of 1

USCIS did not respond to a request for comment about how many people the new policy could affect or whether there are recent examples of trans female athletes’ traveling to the United States under the affected visa categories.

Within the NCAA, the nonprofit group that regulates college athletics, about 25,000 international student-athletes compete in NCAA sports out of the more than 500,000 total who compete each year, according to the association. While it is unclear how many NCAA athletes are trans, the association’s president, Charlie Baker, told a Senate committee in December that he is aware of fewer than 10.

The USCIS policy update may have affected athletes who planned to travel to Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics; however, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee barred trans women from competing in female sports last month.

Only a handful of trans athletes have ever competed in the Olympics. 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.