Alex Sablan, board member of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, speaks during their general membership meeting at the Hyatt on Wednesday.
THE Saipan Chamber of Commerce has called on its members to begin a letter-writing campaign in support of the CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program or EVS-TAP as well as the utilization of the Annex VI provision of the U.S.-China Air Transport Agreement of July 9, 2007.
At their general membership meeting at the Hyatt on Wednesday, board member Alex Sablan stated that both provisions are helpful to the local economy.
“My general request of all of you is…please submit a letter to [U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg] in support of Annex VI and support of EVS-TAP to [Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas],” Sablan said. “Every letter is beneficial…. There are negative comments to this effort, and we want to counter all negative comments with a deluge of positive for our economy.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the EVS-TAP will allow Chinese nationals to visit the CNMI for 14 days only.
Under EVS-TAP, Chinese visitors must fill out an electronic version of Form I-736 and submit it online to Customs and Border Protection at least five days in advance of their arrival to the CNMI.
Form I-736 asks a variety of questions, including whether or not the visitor is seeking employment in the CNMI or is traveling to the CNMI to give birth.
Chinese visitors would still be subject to screening by CBP agents upon arrival to the CNMI.
At the chamber meeting, Sablan said through EVS-TAP, “we’re hopeful that we will see regular arrivals of Chinese citizens into the CNMI and repeat travel.”
In 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese visitors accounted for 41% of total arrivals in the CNMI.
Sablan said EVS-TAP was vetted against national security risks, and federal agencies found “no specific issues related to national security concerns.”
He noted that when it comes to preventing immigration abuses, even the H2-B visa program is “not perfect.”
Sablan said there have been “roughly 22,000 overstays on average” under the H2-B program overall.
“I want to bring this up because it has been a bone of contention — the idea that discretionary parole and EVS-TAP will somehow be an abuse of the program, but it has not been that case,” Sablan said. “In fact, our number of overstays is negligible in comparison to the overstays even under what is perceivably a legitimate program under H2-B. I guess the point I want to make is that no system is perfect. But I do want to stipulate again that EVS-TAP was vetted.”
As for the Annex VI provision, Sablan called on chamber members to support the Commonwealth Ports Authority’s efforts to utilize the measure, which would allow for “unrestricted scheduled air transportation between China and the CNMI.”
Currently, according to the chamber, the U.S. Department of Transportation allows Chinese air carriers to make 24 weekly, round-trip flights to the U.S.
“CPA stated that the stabilization of the CNMI economy is ‘dependent on DOT allowing Chinese carriers to resume unrestricted operations to Saipan’ as permitted by Annex VI,” the chamber added.
U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan has also expressed support for EVS-TAP and the Annex VI provision.
