Senators Mike Lee, Rick Scott, John Cornyn, and Bill Cassidy urged on Apr. 22 the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Interior to terminate a visa policy that allows citizens of China to enter the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa.
The senators said this policy could threaten national security and encourage illegal activities such as drug trafficking and birth tourism. The program in question is called the CNMI Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP), which was established in 2024 as part of the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program. It allows nationals from China to visit the CNMI for up to 14 days without obtaining a visa or undergoing a formal admission process.
In their letter, Lee, Scott, Cornyn, and Cassidy highlighted several concerns about EVS-TAP. They said that Chinese nationals have been convicted of trafficking methamphetamines into CNMI. The senators also pointed out that birth tourism has continued under this policy and noted that individuals entering CNMI are close to Guam, which is an important U.S. military hub. According to their statement, there have been reports of illegal transport of Chinese nationals from CNMI to Guam and claims that actors linked with China have targeted critical infrastructure on Guam such as its power grid.
“We strongly urge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to end the CNMI Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program – a benefit that should not be afforded to a recalcitrant country like Communist China,” Lee, Scott, Cornyn, and Cassidy wrote in their letter. “We further encourage, in alignment with previous Congressional requests, the termination of Hong Kong’s participation in the broader G-CNMI visa waiver program.”
