US Restricts Certain Visas for Transgender Athletes
The notice, issued by the agency, indicates that certain situations—such as a male athlete's history of competing against women—will be treated as a 'negative factor' when measuring a foreign national's meritorious achievements against criteria for certain immigration benefits, such as EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant status—two classes of lawful permanent residency—as well as O-1A non-immigrant status, which are issued to athletes of 'extraordinary ability' with national or international acclaim.
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Epoch Times
9 hours ago
- Epoch Times
US Restricts Certain Visas for Transgender Athletes
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency responsible for managing legal immigration to the United States, announced new immigration policies on Aug. 4 that are more restrictive for foreign athletes who identify as transgender. The notice, issued by the agency, indicates that certain situations—such as a male athlete's history of competing against women—will be treated as a 'negative factor' when measuring a foreign national's meritorious achievements against criteria for certain immigration benefits, such as EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant status—two classes of lawful permanent residency—as well as O-1A non-immigrant status, which are issued to athletes of 'extraordinary ability' with national or international acclaim.
New York Post
12 hours ago
- New York Post
State Department mulls bond program to take up to $15K from foreigners who overstay visas
Foreigners who overstay certain visas in the US could soon face penalties of up to $15,000. The State Department is preparing to launch a yearlong visa pilot program for tourism and business-related entry into the US on Aug. 20, featuring bonds that foreigners from select countries must pay to enter the US. Those bonds could be $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000, according to a Federal Register notice first reported by Reuters. If individuals overstay their visas, they could lose that money. Advertisement Foreigners who comply with their visa requirements at the end of their stay will receive their funds back. The visa bond pilot program is specific to applicants for B-1/B-2 visas — which are used for business and tourism — who hail from countries known for having high overstay rates or where vetting is believed to be subpar. 3 Secretary of State Marco Rubio has helped oversee the department's crackdown on immigration. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement 3 President Trump has bragged that net migration into the US could turn negative for the first time in 50 years. AP State Department officials will determine which countries the pilot program will target and announce them within days. Countries that have faced scrutiny from the Trump administration over visas include: Eritrea, Chad, Haiti, Yemen and Myanmar. Other countries such as Burundi, Djibouti and Togo are known for having elevated visa overstay rates. The move comes against the backdrop of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration into the US. Advertisement Some studies have suggested that more illegal immigration into the US comes from individuals overstaying their visas than crossing the US-Mexico border. This includes one study that pegged visa overstays as 40% of the illegal immigrant population. The US dealt with an overstay rate of about 1.45% in 2023, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump has made security at the US-Mexico border and cracking down on illegal immigration a top agenda item during his second term in office. 3 The State Department explored a similar program during the first Trump administration. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images Advertisement During the final months of Trump's first term, the State Department began exploring a similar visa pilot program. 'However, in light of the worldwide reduction in global travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department did not implement the pilot and consequently it did not provide any data on the feasibility for full implementation,' the Federal Registar notice explained. The visa bond pilot program is a direct response to an executive order Trump signed on his first day back in office to combat illegal immigration. The Post reached out to the State Department for comment. Trump has crowed about projections that the US could have negative net migration for the first time in 50 years.
Politico
13 hours ago
- Politico
GOP senators place holds on Treasury nominees over solar, wind credits
A person familiar with the effort granted anonymity because the move was not made public told POLITICO that Curtis has also placed holds on the same three nominees. The pair, alongside other GOP senators, have escalated their pressure on the Trump administration in recent days to back off its efforts to strangle new solar and wind energy projects, warning that potential cancellations would make it harder to meet growing power demand, as POLITICO has detailed. Grassley said he would object to consideration of the nominees until he can be 'certain that such rules and regulations adhere to the law and congressional intent.' His comments follow a July executive order from Trump that injected new uncertainty for solar and wind developers facing already onerous new deadlines under Republicans' mega tax and spending law, H.R. 1 (119). The order called on Treasury to 'strictly enforce' the termination of the production and investment tax credits for wind and solar facilities, including by issuing new guidance related to when a project is deemed to have begun construction — a potential outcome that Grassley and other GOP senators said they sought to safeguard against. While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ends the tax credits for projects that start producing electricity after 2027, those GOP senators added a last-minute compromise to offer more time for projects that begin construction in the next 12 months. 'What it means for a project to 'begin construction' has been well established by Treasury guidance for more than a decade. Moreover, Congress specifically references current Treasury guidance to set that term's meaning in law,' Grassley said in the Congressional Record. 'This is a case where both the law and congressional intent are clear.' Trump's executive order targeting the long-standing metric followed pushback by hard-right House Republicans who briefly withheld their votes for the tax and spending package over the Senate's easing of the clean energy credit rollbacks. The White House and Treasury Department did not immediately provide comment.
