Kilili: Parole for Chinese tourists to end

With the U.S. Department of Homeland Security putting in place a new system for the entry of Chinese tourists to the CNMI, that means the discretionary parole program will soon be ending, according to Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) over the weekend.

Sablan said in his e-kilili newsletter that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that the use of discretionary parole to allow the entry of Chinese tourists will be replaced by a new electronic system called Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program, or EVS-TAP.

Under the current parole system, tourists from China present paper documents on arrival in the Marianas. Customs and Border Protection officers only have a few minutes to decide to allow entry.

Sablan said EVS-TAP will require electronic submission at least five days before travel, giving CBP time to check the traveler against security watchlists and various law enforcement databases. He said an electronic “board” or “no board” will then be issued to the airline. CBP may still refuse entry on arrival.

The delegate said travelers under the EVS-TAP waive their right to contest deportation or removal and will not be referred to an immigration judge.

“In addition, the electronic EVS-TAP will speed up arrival wait-times and reduce costs for CBP,” Sablan said.

The EVS-TAP program arose from the consultations between the administrations of then-governor Ralph DLG Torres and then-U.S. president Donald Trump in 2019 as a way to tighten control of tourism between the Marianas and China. The 2019 plan was never implemented.

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the Hotel Association of the NMI had urged Sablan in a letter last year to advocate for the EVS-TAP. The letter was also addressed to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan), House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan), and members of the Senate and House, among others.

The letter was in response to the November 2023 letter some U.S. lawmakers sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, calling for the abolition of the discretionary parole program

Last month, Sablan wrote to Mayorkas asking him to move forward with the EVS-TAP.

Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan