Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany [R] has requested the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, to end what he calls “a loophole” that allows Chinese nationals to visit the CNMI without a visa.
“Communist Chinese nationals are exploiting a loophole that allows them to enter the NMI without a visa,” said Tiffany. “Many travel there just to give birth on U.S. soil and secure citizenship for their children.”
But CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds said the rule is carved out specifically for the territory as an “economic tool” due to its geography.
“It’s a carved-out exemption,” said King-Hinds. “It’s a tool that has been given to us by the federal government because it recognizes that tourism is our primary industry. And as a small jurisdiction given our remote geography, we are just not competitive from other markets.”
From 2011 to 2019, an average of 349 live births were recorded by the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation categorizing mother’s residence as tourist. In 2018, CHCC recorded the highest number of live births by tourists at 581. Then followed by a drastic decline of live births by tourists with only 3 each in 2021 & 2022, 37 in 2023, and 58 in 2024.
CNMI’s main industry is tourism, with a heavily federally subsidized health & human services program.