The US State Department has refusing civil servants around the world to visas to transgender athletes trying to come to the US for sports competitions and is permanently visa for those who are deemed to have misrepresented birth sex on their visa applications. He ordered the ban to be issued.
The February 24th State Cable, obtained by the Guardian, directs visa officers to apply the Immigration and Nationality Act 212(a)(6)(c)(i) – “permanent fraud bar.” Unlike regular visa denials, this section causes lifetime exclusions from the United States with limited exemptions.
“If the applicant is suspected of misrepresenting the purpose of travel or gender, we need to consider whether it is a critical expression that supports this finding of injustice.”
The instructions come after Donald Trump issued an executive order on February 5th banning trans athletes from competing in women’s sports. While signing the order, the president told Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem that he would “try to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying himself as a female athlete during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. He instructed him to refuse a visa for “men.” clock.
At the time of signing, Trump also instructed Rubio to tell the International Olympic Committee that America “can’t see men beat and hit female athletes.”
Sarah Mehta, senior policy advisor at the ACLU, said the administration’s use of permanent fraud clauses represents an unprecedented expansion of immigration laws against certain identity groups.
“It’s normal to say that people accused of fraud or misrepresentation are often considered ineligible. That’s usually a case-by-case decision,” Meta said. “But it’s very strange and novel to say that it’s based on misrepresenting their gender and gender to come and participate in events in the US.”
She added that she has used “unacceptable” provisions in the past to ban groups like criminals.
It is unclear how many international transathletes will attempt to compete at the 2028 Olympics, but New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was the first in history in 2020 at the Tokyo Games. .
The directive allows other trans athletes to compete or allow competition in future women’s World Cup competitions in the United States, such as the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). It also applies to women’s sports leagues.
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The State Department Cable will instruct consular officials to look at birth certificates when documents are disputed, mark all cases with “SWS25” and track enforcement of consulates around the world. It also mentions separate future guidance from the Education Bureau that outlines additional actions to “prevent women’s sport events, including sports exchanges in the United States.” I’m doing it.
The directive comes weeks after the NCAA announced that it would limit women’s sports to athletes assigned to women at birth.
The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
