DHS suspends travel program for Chinese nationals amid birth tourism concerns

The Department of Homeland Security published a notice Monday in the Federal Register that suspends a Biden administration-era travel program that allowed Chinese nationals to visit a U.S. island territory without a visa for two weeks.

The decision halted a program that allowed pre-screened Chinese nationals to visit the Northern Mariana Islands for up to 14 days without a visa, citing concerns the program could facilitate birth tourism, espionage and illegal travel to Guam.

The decision comes after a group of Republican senators warned DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in April that the program could pose national security concerns and urged the department to shut it down, according to Fox News.

"I’m very pleased to report that [Mullin] at DHS just closed Joe Biden’s loophole for Chinese birth tourism for which we sounded the alarm earlier this year," Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee, one of the senators, posted on X. "America is not a nursery for the [Chinese Communist Party] to steal citizenship."

The other three Republican senators who signed the letter earlier this year were Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.

The suspension is the latest move by the Trump administration to shut down the birth tourism industry. 

The State Department last month announced a new visa restriction policy that targets migrants who engage in or profit illegally from the birth tourism industry.

President Trump also signed an order in August that directs the State Department to issue rules and guidance to stop birth tourism, even as U.S. law already bans tourists from obtaining visas "for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.