The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has formally updated its visa policies to fall in line with former President Donald Trump’s ongoing initiative to bar transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports—a move that intensifies the national debate ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
In a sweeping announcement Monday, USCIS confirmed it will today consider the participation of transgender women—individuals assigned male at birth who identify as female—in women’s athletic competitions as a “negative factor” when evaluating visa eligibility. The new guidelines apply to several high-profile immigration categories, including the O-1A visa for individuals with extraordinary abilities, EB-1 and EB-2 green cards for highly skilled workers, and national interest waivers.
“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,” said USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser. “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.”
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The move further solidifies the federal government’s alignment with Trump’s aggressive stance on transgender participation in athletics. In February, the president signed the controversial “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, which effectively banned transgender athletes from participating in female sports leagues. While some Democratic-led states have resisted the directive, Trump’s administration has responded with legal threats and federal funding cuts.
In May, the White House threatened to withhold funding from California unless the state adopted the federal policy. When California’s Department of Education refused, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit, accusing the state of violating Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities.
“The state’s policies are not only illegal and unfair but also demeaning—signaling to girls that their opportunities and achievements are secondary to accommodating boys,” the Justice Department stated in its complaint.
Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed the warning, stating that other states allowing transgender girls to compete in female athletics could soon face similar federal scrutiny and lawsuits.
In a further extension of this federal crackdown, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) revised its own rules last month to align with the executive order. According to a report by NBC News, the USOPC’s new “Athlete Safety Policy”—though never directly mentioning transgender athletes—includes language that implicitly bans transgender women from competing against biological females while representing the U.S. at international competitions.
“The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders… to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act,” the 27-page document states.
The policy shift has already had ripple effects across U.S. sports. According to The New York Times, national governing bodies overseeing athletic competition at all levels will today be expected to adopt the USOPC’s standards—effectively standardizing the exclusion of transgender women from female divisions across the country.
The changes come after controversy at last year’s Paris Olympics, where Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won gold in the women’s welterweight division. Khelif had previously been disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests—raising global questions about athletic fairness and eligibility.
In the U.S., governing bodies are already reacting. USA Fencing announced it will enact a new policy starting August 1, barring transgender women from competing in the women’s division. The decision follows a high-profile dispute earlier this year, when a female fencer was disqualified after refusing to face a transgender opponent.
As the 2028 Olympics draw closer, the political, legal, and athletic battleground over transgender participation in women’s sports continues to escalate—today with immigration policy joining the front lines of the culture war.
The post Trump Scores a Major Win: U.S. Olympic Committee Bars Trans Women From Women’s Sports in Compliance With Executive Order Ahead of 2028 Olympics appeared first on TMSPN.
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