Trump Administration Updates Immigration Policy To Restrict Visas For Male Athletes In Women's Sports
Policy follows Trump's executive order targeting 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and other major sporting events
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Monday it has updated its policy manual to restrict visa eligibility for male athletes who want to participate in female competitions.
"Men do not belong in women’s sports," USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said in a statement. "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. 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.
"The Trump Administration is standing up for the silent majority who've long been victims of leftist policies that defy common sense."
Under the change, USCIS will now consider "the fact that a male athlete has been competing against women" as a negative factor when evaluating petitions in categories such as O‑1A visas for extraordinary ability, EB‑1 and EB‑2 green cards for highly skilled workers and national interest waivers. The agency clarified that it does not view male athletes seeking to compete in women’s sports as substantially benefiting the United States or acting in the national interest.
The policy applies to all pending and future applications.
This change comes as no surprise. As OutKick's Dan Zaksheske previously reported, Trump made his intentions clear in February when he signed the "Keeping Men Out Of Women's Sports" executive order and announced plans to deny entry to foreign trans-identifying male athletes for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
"We want [the International Olympic Committee] to change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject," Trump said at the time. "In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.
"I’m also directing our Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem… to deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes to try and get into the Games."
President Donald Trump signs an executive order creating a White House task force to help coordinate logistical issues related to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The move follows a similar policy shift by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which updated its guidelines in July to exclude male athletes from competing in women’s sports. The NCAA made a similar change shortly after the February executive order.
With the U.S. set to host major international sporting events in the coming years — including the 2028 Summer Olympics and the 2031 Women’s World Cup — the Trump administration is already laying the groundwork to ensure that women's events are for females only.