The immigration agency has reversed a Biden-era policy, eliminating the ‘X’ gender option and restoring binary sex recognition.
The agency that oversees immigration services in the United States has announced that it has officially updated its policy to recognize only two biological sexes—male and female—for all immigration-related documentation and benefit requests, which is in line with President Donald Trump’s directive.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced in an April 2 release that it is rescinding a 2024 policy introduced under President Joe Biden that allowed applicants to select a third gender identity option—“X”—on forms and identity documents.
The Biden-era expansion of gender options is now being reversed, with the USCIS stating it is “returning to its historical policy of recognizing two biological sexes.”
“There are only two sexes—male and female,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “President Trump promised the American people a revolution of common sense, and that includes making sure that the policy of the U.S. government agrees with simple biological reality.”
USCIS said its policy shift aligns with Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order—Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government—which made it national policy to recognize male and female as the only two sexes, noting that these are “not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
“My Administration will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male,” Trump wrote in the order.
Citing Trump’s directive, the USCIS has updated its policy guidance, effective immediately, stating that a person’s sex will now be determined based primarily on the sex indicated on the birth certificate issued at or near the time of birth. If no such certificate exists or if it lists a sex other than male or female, secondary evidence may be used to determine sex. In case of discrepancies between an applicant’s stated sex and birth certificate, the sex listed on the birth certificate will generally be decisive.
By Tom Ozimek
