GOP lawmakers warn CNMI entry programs pose national security risks

By Bryan Manabat, For Pacific Island Times

Warning of “grave threats” posed by the Chinese Communist Party, 34 House Republicans are urging federal agencies to halt visa‑free travel for Chinese nationals to the Northern Mariana Islands, arguing that the programs have been used to obtain U.S. citizenship through birth tourism.

The renewed call for policy review marks an escalation in Washington’s push to restrict Chinese travel to the CNMI. It follows similar warnings issued in January by three U.S. senators and echoes a bipartisan effort last year by House and Senate members who cited birth‑tourism cases and human‑smuggling prosecutions as evidence that federal entry programs were being exploited.

The latest letter, sent March 9 to the secretaries of Homeland Security, State and the Interior, was signed by Reps. Tom Tiffany, Chip Roy, Elise Stefanik, Andy Biggs, Byron Donalds, Ralph Norman, Paul Gosar and Harriet Hageman among others.

The House Republicans argue that immigration parole and visa‑waiver programs, dating back to 2009 and expanded under a 2024 Biden administration rule, enabled thousands of Chinese mothers to give birth in Saipan to secure U.S. citizenship for their children. They cited reports estimating that more than 3,300 babies have been born in the CNMI to Chinese nationals since 2009, with annual births rising from fewer than 10 to nearly 600 at the peak.

Lawmakers warned that many of these U.S.-born children were raised in China and could reach voting age by 2030, a scenario they said could allow a “hostile nation” to influence American elections.

They asked federal agencies to disclose how many children have been born to Chinese nationals in the CNMI and the mainland United States, how many returned to China, how many are registered to vote, and how many have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The group also requested data on how many Chinese nationals entered the CNMI under each parole or visa‑waiver program, including the Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program, or EVS‑TAP.

The Guam‑CNMI Visa Waiver Program, administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, allows citizens of designated countries to enter Guam or the CNMI for up to 45 days without a U.S. tourist visa. Hong Kong passport holders are among those eligible. The program is separate from the U.S. mainland Visa Waiver Program and applies only to the two Pacific territories.

A subset of that system, the CNMI Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program, or EVS‑TAP, was created during the first Trump administration and implemented in 2025.

EVS‑TAP allows prescreened Chinese nationals to visit the CNMI for up to 14 days without a visa, subject to additional security vetting and advance electronic authorization. The program was developed in response to CNMI government requests for a controlled mechanism to support tourism while limiting long‑stay birth tourism.

Tourism remains the CNMI’s primary economic driver, central to jobs, tax revenue and business activity. Historically, it has generated hundreds of millions of dollars annually and accounted for the majority of private‑sector activity.

The debate comes as the CNMI continues to struggle with a fragile tourism industry, the territory’s only economic engine. Visitor arrivals remain far below pre‑pandemic levels, underscoring the stakes for a community heavily dependent on international travel.

In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, the CNMI welcomed 487,008 visitors, including 185,526 from China, then the islands’ second‑largest source market.

By contrast, in 2023 the CNMI recorded just 215,543 total arrivals, less than half of 2019 levels. Chinese arrivals have collapsed even more sharply: from more than 185,000 in 2019 to just 5,080 in fiscal 2025, according to tourism data.

More recent monthly data shows a slow recovery but still‑depressed numbers. In July 2024, the CNMI received 2,037 visitors from China, compared to 1,075 in July 2023 — still far below pre‑pandemic volumes, when multiple weekly flights connected Saipan to major Chinese cities.

CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King‑Hinds said the lawmakers’ description of the islands’ immigration landscape reflects how easily the territory’s circumstances can be misunderstood in Washington.

King‑Hinds also addressed the issue Wednesday at the Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Forum, where government and business leaders gathered to discuss the territory’s tourism recovery and long‑term economic strategy.

“The CNMI is a proud American community on the front lines of the Indo‑Pacific,” she said in a statement released earlier and reiterated at the forum. “Our tourism‑driven economy depends on responsible access to international visitors, and programs such as EVS‑TAP are essential to ensuring that our islands remain economically viable while maintaining appropriate security safeguards.”

She said that in her first year in Congress she has seen how long it takes to educate all 435 House members about the CNMI’s unique circumstances. Many lawmakers who have taken the time to learn about the islands’ realities, she said, have come to understand the importance of maintaining access to diverse tourism markets.

“For the CNMI, access to diverse tourism markets is essential for our very survival,” King‑Hinds said. “The core issue is not just one program or one market, but ensuring the CNMI has every available tool to rebuild and sustain its economy.”

She added that if federal policies restrict the islands’ economic options, the federal government must be prepared to provide the resources necessary to sustain the community — an outcome she said she hopes to avoid.

“I will continue working with my colleagues and federal partners to ensure policies affecting the CNMI reflect our realities and support both the economic vitality of our islands and America’s long‑term presence in the Indo‑Pacific,” she said

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