“Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…” But Only If They’re Thin

New visa guidelines target people with chronic health conditions, including body size.

• New visa rules now allow the US to deny residency based on weight.

• This is not health policy. This is discrimination and echoes eugenics.

• What does it mean for those of us living in larger bodies right here at home?

• And it raises a frightening question: who gets targeted next?

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President Trump announced new guidelines for the State Department to use when evaluating visa applications for individuals seeking to establish residency in the United States. The new guidelines include review and denial of visas based on “health considerations,” including weight. Let me state it as simply as possible: if you’re in a larger body, there’s a chance you will be denied a visa to live in this country. When I read this, my stomach dropped. This is not immigration policy. This is discrimination wrapped in bureaucratic language. And if we are being honest, it is eugenics.

Remember this quote that many of us learned as kids. A quote that sits on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

What do we do with that now? Do we pretend the words no longer matter? Are we going to add an asterisk to the plaque that says, “unless you’re fat.”? Does Trump plan to remove the plaque so that the policy aligns with the message? Because these guidelines are the exact opposite of everything this country claims to stand for.

The justification being offered is that people in larger bodies, or people with certain medical histories, will “drain resources.” Let’s sit with that for a moment, shall we. On a non-human, surface level, I get it, but on a human level, this way of thinking is incredibly hurtful. And I’ll be honest, when I hear thinking like this, I question my own existence.

I live in a larger body. Millions of Americans do. So, what does this policy say about me? About us? Are we drains on the country too? Are we somehow less welcome, less valuable, less deserving?

This is weight stigma written directly into federal policy. And this is why so many people in larger bodies live with shame they never asked for. Shame that was handed to them by a culture that treats certain bodies as burdens.

I know I am reaching here, but history teaches us to pay attention to the trajectory. Once a government labels one group of people as drains on resources, it becomes easier to justify restrictions. It becomes easier to justify surveillance. It becomes easier to justify control. These lines of thinking, justified by these new guidelines, take dark turns.

Will people in larger bodies be singled out next inside our own borders? Will we be told we must lose weight to be “good citizens”? Will we be forced onto diets? Will we be sent to weight loss programs or so-called fat camps because someone has decided our existence is too costly?

This might sound extreme, but eugenics does not start with camps. It starts with language. It starts with who is considered worthy. It starts with policies that quietly separate the “fit” from the “unfit.”

Image created via AI

I hate that I need to say this, but it’s necessary and I’m exhausted by the fact that it still needs to be said.

Critiquing these guidelines does not give us permission to critique Trump’s body. Body shaming is not a tool for justice. It never has been. It only reinforces the very systems we are trying to dismantle. I will not tolerate anybody shaming, even if directed towards someone I don’t like.

We can challenge cruelty without using cruelty. We can demand better without abandoning our own values. We can refuse to participate in the same logic that says certain bodies are less deserving.

That is exactly what this policy states.

These guidelines are not about health. They are about control. They are about defining who is “acceptable” enough for America. And the fact that weight is on the list tells us everything we need to know.

Our country is supposed to welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Not only the thin ones.

Not only the ones who fit a narrow definition of health.

Not only the ones whose bodies make someone else comfortable.

If the Statue of Liberty represents the best of who we are, this policy represents the worst of what we are willing to become.

If this unsettled you, share it with someone who needs to read it. And if you want support unpacking weight stigma or building a healthier relationship with your body, my coaching and community are here for you.