During a presentation at the American Memorial Park Visitor Center’s mini-theater on Friday, Alex Hartman, Department of Homeland Security’s immigration policy adviser, said countries included in the program are Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Hong Kong.
Government officials and members of the business community reminded Hartman and the other visiting federal representatives that Russian and Chinese tourists are crucial to the CNMI’s struggling tourism industry.
But according to Hartman, economic benefits do not match national security concerns.
In an interview after his brief Power Point presentation, Hartman said there are two different requirements before a country can be included in the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program.
First, is the significant economic benefit to the U.S. and the insular areas.
Second, there has to be a finding that adding these countries will not pose a threat to the safety, security or welfare of the U.S.
Hartman said Homeland Security has made the determination that there is a threat to the safety, security and welfare of the nation.
“And based on that potential threat we could not add China or Russia,” Hartman added.
Gubernatorial candidate and businessman Juan T. Guerrero said the CNMI’s recommendations should have been taken into account by Homeland Security.
Lyn Knight, the president of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, said the exclusion of Russia and China from the program will reduce CNMI tourism revenues by 20 percent.
She proposed a six-month delay in the implementation of the federalization law during which the commonwealth can attempt to cushion its impact.
The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which extends U.S. immigration law to CNMI, also created the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program.
