SAIPAN — Representative Marissa Flores said the Commonwealth is moving to shut down the commercial birth tourism industry through legislation she introduced, pointing to a sharp drop in tourist births as evidence the effort is working.
Flores said the Business Integrity and Regulation of Tourism Harms Act, known as the BIRTH Act, targets brokers, maternity housing operations, coordinated travel packages and deceptive citizenship-based marketing.
“We are not waiting for problems to resurface,” Flores said. “We are moving decisively to ensure that no one can treat our hospitals, our islands, or U.S. citizenship as a business model.”
Flores said the measure is structured to complement rather than conflict with federal authority over immigration, admission and citizenship, and is designed to work alongside the Trump administration’s expanded efforts to dismantle international birth-tourism visa networks and enforce rules that deny visitor visas when the primary purpose of travel is to obtain U.S. citizenship for a child.
“The CNMI is doing its part at home while our federal partners crack down on organized schemes abroad,” she said. “Strong local laws and strong federal enforcement send a united message that abuse of the system will not be tolerated.”
Tourist births in the CNMI have fallen by about 92 percent, from 581 in 2018 to 47 in 2025, according to figures Flores attributed to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation. She said the decline shows that coordinated federal policy, enhanced screening and local action work when jurisdictions stay vigilant.
Flores urged continued collaboration with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of State to maintain and strengthen the gains.