Washington is taking another swing at birthright citizenship in America's Pacific territories, and the ripple effects could reach anyone planning travel to Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands.

Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma has introduced Senate Bill 5667, the "Ending Birthright Citizenship in U.S. Territories Act." It follows a House version from Virginia Rep. Morgan Griffith and President Trump's Aug. 6 executive order targeting birth tourism. The State Department followed up on Aug. 12 by creating a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to identify visa holders who travel to the US to give birth, revoke their visas, and shut down the networks that profit from arranging such trips. A federal court in Maryland has temporarily blocked the executive order while litigation continues, and the Supreme Court's Trump vs. Barbara ruling previously affirmed that neither the president nor Congress can unilaterally rewrite constitutional citizenship guarantees.

Lankford's bill would deny birthright citizenship in the territories to children whose mother is not lawfully present and whose father is neither a US citizen nor a lawful permanent resident. Unlike the House bill, which would kick in next year, the Senate version would take effect immediately if passed.

The political push centres largely on Saipan in the CNMI, where brokers have reportedly arranged travel for pregnant Chinese women seeking US citizenship for their babies. Yet the data tells a shrinks-every-year story: the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. recorded just 47 tourist births in 2025, down roughly 92 percent from 581 in 2018. On the mainland, Penn State researchers estimate birth tourism births at 5,000 to 26,000 annually — a far bigger figure that has attracted less legislative attention.

Not everyone in the territories sees the crackdown as an attack. Guam OB-GYN Dr. Thomas Shieh says birth tourism deserves attention no matter its size, arguing it diverts scarce maternal-care resources from local mothers. But advocates like Neil Weare of Right to Democracy warn the legislation rests on the premise that citizenship rights in US territories are constitutionally weaker than in the states. There's also a legal wrinkle in the CNMI: its Covenant with the federal government requires mutual consent for changes to the political relationship, and it's unclear whether local leaders were even consulted. Neither Guam Delegate James Moylan nor CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds had commented at the time of writing.

Why should holidaymakers care? If you're travelling to Guam, Saipan or Tinian on a US visa, enforcement of birth-tourism rules means closer scrutiny of entry intent — pregnant travellers on tourist visas should expect tougher questioning at the border. The debate also puts a rare spotlight on how fragile territorial rights can be, even in destinations that market themselves as easy US gateways to the Pacific. For now, the courts have put the brakes on the executive order, but Congress is still moving.

Pacific Island Times