> The 24 February state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs visa officers to apply Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) – the “permanent fraud bar” – against trans applicants. Unlike regular visa denials, this section triggers lifetime exclusion from the United States with limited waiver possibilities.<p>It's becoming clear that the current Republican goal regarding transgender people is to establish that being openly transgender is a form of fraud (that is: establishing that trans people stating their gender is an act of deliberate deception), so that they have some basis to prosecute them arbitrarily. Bringing up athletes is just misdirection.