DHS Secretary Kristi Noem backed new border-security funding and enforcement measures days after Republican senators urged her to close what they called an immigration loophole that allows some Chinese nationals to enter the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands without a traditional visa, a pathway they said threatens national security on Guam.
In a statement released via the White House and DHS newsrooms on February 6, 2026, Noem tied the administration’s push behind the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (H.R. 1) to the slogan “Make America Safe Again,” arguing for sustained spending on border infrastructure and personnel. “The Big Beautiful Bill will ensure more funding to finish the construction of the border wall with cutting-edge technology that will secure our homeland for generations to come. We have the most secure border in American history, but we can’t let up now: this bill will fund our Border Patrol and ICE agents to carry out the arrest and removal of criminal illegal aliens. Make America Safe Again!”
Senator Rick Scott, Senator Jim Banks, and Senator Markwayne Mullin pressed that same framing in a January 15, 2026, letter to Noem and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, demanding immediate action to end what they described as a “Guam-CNMI visa loophole.” “As the Trump administration continues working to Make America Safe Again, a lingering Obama- and Biden-era policy allows nationals from China – a country that has declared itself our enemy – to obtain fast-track American citizenship. This is a clear and significant short- and long-term national security risk.”
The debate centers on entry rules in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth whose immigration arrangements differ from the standard visa process for entry to the U.S. mainland, and its proximity to Guam, a U.S. territory that hosts major U.S. military assets. Republican officials have argued that the combination of geography, travel flows, and screening rules creates a vulnerability that broader border-security legislation should address.
Guam’s role as a strategic military hub in the Pacific has made the issue more politically charged than a routine dispute over tourism rules or travel authorizations. Lawmakers have described the island as the “tip of the spear,” and they have pointed to the distance between the CNMI and Guam—120 miles—as a reason to treat any perceived vetting gaps as higher-risk.
At the heart of the senators’ concerns is the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program (G-CNMI VWP) and a 2024 subset, the CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP). Together, those programs allow nationals from certain countries, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to enter the CNMI for up to 14 days without a traditional U.S. visa.
In practical terms, streamlined entry differs from the standard visa process by shifting more of the up-front friction away from a traditional visa application and toward digital travel authorization and inspection at arrival. Under the current system described by officials and lawmakers, travelers still face inspection, and pre-screening functions as a gatekeeping step rather than a visa itself.
As of November 29, 2024, all travelers under the G-CNMI VWP must use the digital G-CNMI Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), a change officials have described as more rigorous pre-screening. The ETA, as used in travel programs, is designed to collect information before travel and support screening, but it does not function as a visa and does not eliminate inspection on arrival.
Republican lawmakers have also tied their arguments to “birth tourism,” saying the territorial travel pathway can facilitate short stays that result in U.S.-citizen births and later family-based immigration benefits. The senators pointed to Saipan, where births to visiting Chinese mothers jumped from fewer than 10 annually in 2009 to a peak of nearly 600 in 2018, then fell to approximately 55–58 births by 2024–2025.
A separate enforcement case has played a central role in the security narrative around Guam. Lawmakers cited a February 2025 case in which a PRC national was sentenced for transporting eight Chinese nationals by boat from Saipan to Guam, where they were apprehended near Andersen Air Force Base.
Noem, in a separate announcement dated December 18, 2025, pointed to other immigration pathways she described as vulnerabilities, including the Diversity Visa lottery, while directing action through the agency that administers many immigration benefits. “I have instructed the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the lottery, calling it a loophole that jeopardized national safety.”
Supporters of tightening the CNMI pathway have cast the issue as part of a broader national-security strategy that links border enforcement to counterintelligence concerns in the Pacific. Senators have argued that allowing unvetted or lightly-vetted Chinese nationals into the CNMI provides the CCP with opportunities for intelligence gathering and “infiltration,” an argument that has become a pillar of the administration’s 2026 National Security Strategy, which prioritizes “economic resilience” and “closed borders” as inseparable goals.
For travelers, the immediate practical effect described in public statements has been increased scrutiny and more formal pre-travel processing, rather than a blanket ban announced in the material cited. Nationals from Hong Kong and the PRC are facing increased scrutiny, and the requirement to use the G-CNMI ETA can affect trip planning by adding a step that depends on accurate personal data and consistent travel documents.
Business and political leaders in the CNMI have warned that abrupt changes could hit a tourism-dependent economy. CNMI Governor David M. Apatang and local business leaders said in a January 26, 2026, letter that ending EVS-TAP would “severely harm the Marianas’ fragile economy” by cutting off a significant portion of the tourism market.
The policy fight also intersects with legal disputes that can shape how families and local governments interpret risk even when rules do not change overnight. The administration is challenging “birthright citizenship” for tourists, a contested legal issue in 2026 with ongoing challenges from civil rights groups and state attorneys general, creating uncertainty alongside the political push to close what senators call an immigration loophole.
The enforcement agenda in the territories sits alongside broader legislative action that Republicans say provides capacity and deterrence. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” (P.L. 119-21), signed into law on July 4, 2025, includes a 1% “Remittance Tax” on foreign transfers effective Jan 1, 2026, and increased funding for ICE and Border Patrol agents specifically for territorial enforcement, measures supporters link to the “Make America Safe Again” message.
Travelers and employers tracking the CNMI pathway can confirm current requirements and any updates by relying on primary government channels: DHS and CBP pages for ETA instructions, the Federal Register for final rules and effective dates affecting EVS-TAP or related programs, and Congress.gov for bill text and summaries when lawmakers propose statutory changes. People making travel plans or advising clients can also keep records that match the way these programs operate in practice, including saving submission receipts and confirmation numbers for digital authorizations and retaining copies of the instructions they followed at the time of travel.
