Secretary of Homeland Security closes legal loophole that allowed Chinese citizens to enter Northern Mariana Islands without visa
The federal administration heeded calls from Republican lawmakers to suspend a legacy program that facilitated birth tourism and posed national security vulnerabilities in the archipelago.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced via the Federal Register the formal suspension of the visa waiver program Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP), a regulation inherited from the Biden administration that allowed citizens of the People's Republic of China to enter the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) without a visa for temporary stays of up to 14 days.
The measure adopted by the Secretary of Homeland Security comes following repeated warnings issued by Republican Senators Mike Lee, Tim Scott, Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn, who sent a letter to the agency's head warning that the immigration mechanism was being exploited to promote birth tourism and circumvent U.S. border controls in the Pacific region.
In their formal request submitted last April, Republican lawmakers demanded the closure this regulatory loophole, arguing that the special exemption made it easier for foreign nationals to travel to the island territory for the explicit purpose of giving birth and granting automatic U.S. citizenship to their children, thereby undermining the country's immigration and security interests.
Based on the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security determined that there are justifiable grounds to suspend the travel authorization program. The measure is being implemented while DHS, in consultation with the Departments of State and the Interior, comprehensively evaluates the impact of the program on territorial sovereignty and immigration policy.
According to the official notice published in the Federal Register, the revocation of the EVS-TAP will take effect at 2:00 p.m. ET three days after its official publication, at which time the admission of Chinese citizens under this exceptional regime to the island territory will cease entirely.
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