US government restricts visas for transgender athletes
US government restricts visas for transgender athletes
Reuters
La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, August 5, 2025, p. a11
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced yesterday that it has updated its immigration policy to restrict visa issuance to transgender women who wish to compete in women's sports.
Under the policy update, USCIS will consider the fact that a male athlete has been competing against women
as a negative factor when evaluating visa petitions in categories such as O-1A for extraordinary ability, EB-1 and EB-2 green cards for highly skilled workers, and national interest waivers.
USCIS is closing a loophole for foreign male athletes whose only chance of winning in elite sports is to change their gender identity and exploit their biological advantages over women
, said Citizenship Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
Security issue
It is a matter of safety, justice, respect, and truth that only female athletes receive visas to come to the United States to participate in women's sports.
The measure aligns with the Trump administration's efforts to regulate transgender participation in athletics and follows similar policies enacted at the state level across the country.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee updated its policy last month to align it with an executive order signed earlier this year by Trump banning transgender women from competing in women's sports.
In his first days in office, the US president declared that the federal government would only recognize two genders, men and women, and has attacked transgender people through a series of decisions.
In February, he issued an executive order banning transgender athletes, allowing federal agencies to suspend funding to any institution that doesn't consider the gender assigned at birth to determine sex. This measure has been criticized by human rights advocates for discriminating against a minority of transgender athletes.
Djokovic, a month and a half without playing
▲ Photo Ap
La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, August 5, 2025, p. a11
Novak Djokovic will skip the Cincinnati Open for what has officially been listed as a non-medical
reason, meaning he will head into the U.S. Open without having played a match in about a month and a half. The 24-time Grand Slam champion has not competed since July 11, when he lost in the Wimbledon semifinals to eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
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