WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R -Florida) has introduced a bill targeting visa-free travel access for Chinese nationals to U.S. territories, following a Senate push last month urging the Department of Homeland Security to revoke CNMI travel authorization for Chinese nationals.
Scott announced the One Nation, One Visa Policy Act on February 18 and said the measure would prohibit Chinese nationals from entering the United States without a valid visa and bar participation in visa-free travel programs, including the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program.
The bill announcement follows a January 15 letter from Scott, Senator Jim Banks (R-Indiana), and Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, in which the senators called for the administration to end the CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program, or EVS-TAP, and require standard tourist visas for Chinese nationals visiting the CNMI.
In that earlier letter, the senators also recommended ending Hong Kong’s participation in the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program and argued the current structure had been abused, citing birth tourism and national security concerns.
Scott’s new statement expands the argument into proposed legislation and uses broader language directed at visa-free entry by Chinese nationals into U.S. territories.
The statement references the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program, but the text provided does not include the bill’s full language, co-sponsors, committee referral, or a detailed section-by-section explanation of what statutory changes would be made.
For the CNMI, any federal move affecting EVS-TAP, the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program, or related travel access rules could have direct tourism and economic implications as the Marianas continues to monitor visitor recovery and air service from Asian markets.
