Trump administration bars trans women athletes from ‘extraordinary ability’ visa

[Jessica_Rose]

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

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-administration-bars-trans-women-athletes-from-extraordinary-ability-visas/ar-AA1JTPgo?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=532e1d1f99b54370b03035b64cb8620d&ei=40

Story by Jo Yurcaba (4 August 2025)

The Department of Homeland Security will update visa policies to prevent transgender women from traveling to the U.S. 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, as was first reported by the conservative news website The Daily Wire. The guidance builds off of an executive order President Doanld Trump issued during the early weeks 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, but rather 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 individuals who possess "extraordinary ability" in science, art, education, business or athletics.