The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working to end birth tourism amid national security risks.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has decided to suspend a visa-free travel program that allows Chinese nationals to visit the United States territory of Guam, as Republican lawmakers sound the alarm.
According to Fox News, Republican senators Mike Lee, Rick Scott, John Cornyn, and Bill Cassidy reached out to Mullin in April, asking him to put an end to “a Biden-era program that allowed prescreened Chinese nationals to visit the Northern Mariana Islands for up to 14 days without a visa.”
On Tuesday, the DHS published an announcement of the suspension:
This notice announces the decision of the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to suspend the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP). EVS-TAP allows prescreened nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to travel to the CNMI without a visa for temporary visits under specified conditions. Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations, the Secretary has broad authority to suspend the program for good cause, including threats to national security, law enforcement interests, and immigration enforcement. The Secretary has determined that there is good cause to suspend EVSTAP, while DHS, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Interior, evaluates the program.
Mike Lee shared a celebratory post on X, declaring that “America is not a nursery for the CCP to steal citizenship.”
Look:
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨
I’m very pleased to report that @SecMullinDHS at @DHSgov just CLOSED Joe Biden’s loophole for Chinese birth tourism for which we sounded the alarm earlier this year.
America is not a nursery for the CCP to steal citizenship.
Thank you, President Trump!
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 26, 2026
According to DHS, the program took effect in 2025 and has resulted in upwards of 3,000 Chinese nationals accessing the area during fiscal year 2025. The indefinite suspension will remain until the program is thoroughly vetted, and will begin at 2 p.m. EDT on Oct. 30. It applies not only to new applicants but those whose travel plans have already been established, and anyone already visiting the Northern Mariana Islands can finish their stay but must acquire a visa if they plan to return.
“While birth tourism has long been an issue in the CNMI, the availability of visa-exempt travel and reduced vetting under EVS-TAP may lower barriers to this practice,” the notice explained. It did not mention any specific number of births linked to program participants.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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