US threatens permanent visa bans on trans athletes based on sex markers
State department memo directs officers to bar those deemed to misrepresent birth sex on applications
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The Guardian - Joseph Gedeon in Washington
Tue 25 Feb 2025 11.31 EST

The US state department has ordered officials worldwide to deny visas to transgender athletes attempting to come to the US for sports competitions and to issue permanent visa bans against those who are deemed to misrepresent their birth sex on visa applications.

The 24 February state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs visa officers to apply Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) – the "permanent fraud bar" – against trans applicants. Unlike regular visa denials, this section triggers lifetime exclusion from the United States with limited waiver possibilities.

"In cases where applicants are suspected of misrepresenting their purpose of travel or sex, you should consider whether this misrepresentation is material such that it supports an ineligibility finding," reads the directive from the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

[T]he president directed the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, to deny visas to "men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes" during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles – which will take place under Trump's watch.

At the signing, Trump also directed Rubio to tell the International Olympic Committee that America "will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes".

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This is just the beginning. If we leave the country for any reason, (surgery, holiday, tourism), we may not be allowed back in. And it appears that this could turn into a permanent ban.

If this happens and my country turns its back on me, I will turn my back on it. This is not the country I served to defend.