India, Aug. 5 -- In a controversial policy change, the Trump administration moved to deny US visas to transgender women athletes seeking to compete in women's sports, stating that "Men do not belong in women's sports".

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that it has updated its guidelines to restrict access to certain elite visa categories, including O-1A visas for individuals of extraordinary ability and employment-based immigrant visas (E11, E21), to biological women only.

According to the new policy, male-born athletes, including transgender women, will be considered ineligible if their goal is to compete in women's sports in the US.

The update directly responds to Executive Order 14201, titled "K...