Wisconsin Representative Tom Tiffany has written to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), urging the agency to rescind the Biden administration’s visa-waiver policy that allows Chinese nationals to travel visa-free to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Tiffany is seeking to halt the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program, which permits Chinese tourists to enter these US territories without needing a US visa.
In his letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Tiffany expressed concerns over national security, public safety, and immigration fraud. He pointed out that this policy has led to increased concerns about illegal immigration and birth tourism, a practice that has resulted in a surge of births on Saipan (part of CNMI) by foreign nationals. Tiffany noted that these foreign-born children are often able to petition for green cards for their families later.
Tiffany also referenced a 2020 letter he sent regarding the same issue, recalling the introduction of the parole program in 2009, which allowed Chinese nationals to bypass normal visa requirements. He highlighted the troubling rise in the number of births to foreign visitors, which increased from fewer than 10 in 2009 to nearly 600 in 2018. This surge, he claimed, has exceeded the number of births to legal US residents in CNMI in recent years.
