The Department of Homeland Security is finally suspending a visa-free travel program that allowed thousands of Chinese nationals to enter a U.S. territory without proper consular vetting — a loophole that invited birth tourism and espionage on American soil for over a year.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the suspension Monday, targeting the Biden-era Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program, which let prescreened Chinese nationals visit the Northern Mariana Islands for up to 14 days without a visa. More than 3,000 Chinese nationals used the program in fiscal year 2025 alone, according to DHS. Those travelers were vetted by Customs and Border Protection — not by a State Department consular officer, the standard gatekeeper for foreign entry. The suspension takes effect at 2 p.m. EDT on October 30 and applies to both new applicants and travelers already approved.
The program was created in 2024 under Biden and took effect the following year. DHS now admits the reduced vetting lowered barriers to birth tourism — the practice of traveling to U.S. soil to give birth so the child receives automatic citizenship. The department warned the practice strains the islands' medical system. How many anchor babies resulted from this program? DHS didn't say. The notice offered no numbers on births linked to EVS-TAP travelers.
DHS also cited intelligence-gathering risks near U.S. military facilities. The Northern Mariana Islands sit close to Guam, a major military hub. According to Breitbart, DHS pointed to two cases involving Chinese nationals sentenced for smuggling others from the Northern Mariana Islands to Guam — and most of the people in the second case were later found near sensitive military installations. Those incidents predated the current program, but DHS said they exposed a vulnerability the new program failed to close.
Republican senators had been sounding the alarm since at least April. Sens. Mike Lee, Rick Scott, John Cornyn, and Bill Cassidy wrote to Mullin and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urging an end to the program. "A benefit that should not be afforded to a recalcitrant country like Communist China," they wrote. Lee celebrated the suspension on X: "America is not a nursery for the CCP to steal citizenship. Thank you, President Trump!" Rep. Chip Roy and Rep. Tom Tiffany had raised concerns in March as well.
What neither outlet explored is the question that matters most: who lobbied to keep this door open in the first place? A program branded "Economic Vitality & Security" doesn't write itself. The Northern Mariana Islands have long relied on Chinese tourism dollars, and local business interests have fought to preserve streamlined access. The senators' letter also urged ending Hong Kong's participation in the broader G-CNMI visa waiver program — a detail the New York Post buried entirely. Follow the money, and you'll find the usual coalition of chamber-of-commerce types putting cheap labor and tourist revenue ahead of sovereignty.
The suspension will remain in place while DHS evaluates the program with the State and Interior departments. No timeline for that review has been set. Travelers already in the territory under the program may finish their authorized stays — meaning the full accounting of what this loophole cost Americans is still years away.
