CNMI voices, including son of immigrants, push back on birthright bill

Opposition is mounting in the Northern Mariana Islands to a congressional proposal that would end automatic U.S. citizenship for many children born in the territories beginning in 2027, with Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds, delegate candidate Galvin S. Deleon Guerrero, and Saipan-born author Kelvin Rodeo warning that the measure threatens the Covenant, unfairly targets the territories, and could leave future generations in legal limbo.

King-Hinds said the proposal punishes the wrong people instead of addressing weaknesses in the federally controlled immigration system, while Deleon Guerrero called citizenship under the Covenant a promise that every child born in the CNMI fully belongs to the American family. Rodeo, himself the son of two overseas Filipino workers, said the issue is deeply personal because he was born and raised on Saipan as a U.S. citizen through birthright citizenship. 

Rodeo, author of “Shadows in Paradise: The Dark History of the CNMI Guest Worker Program,” said the legislation would not technically affect him because it would apply only to children born on or after Jan. 1, 2027, but it could deny future generations the protection that shaped his own life.

“As a child of two OFWs (overseas foreign workers) who was born and raised on Saipan during the CNMI Guest Worker Program, my first thought is that this feels very personal to me,” Rodeo said.

He argued that the proposal would directly violate the Covenant establishing the CNMI’s political union with the United States, particularly its citizenship provisions.

“The Covenant is not merely a policy preference. It is the foundational agreement governing the political relationship between the CNMI and the United States,” Rodeo said. “Congress should not be casually discarding one of its core guarantees by amending it to eliminate birthright citizenship.”

Rodeo also said the proposal would be disrespectful to residents of the U.S. territories who have served in the Armed Forces, including those who died in American wars.

“I believe this would be a tremendous slap in the face to every active duty service member from the U.S. territories currently serving in our Armed Forces, every veteran who has already served, and especially the thousands of sons and daughters of the territories who never came home after being sent to fight America’s forever wars,” he said.

He noted that military recruiters have historically looked to low-income and small-island communities, offering service as a route to education, healthcare, and career opportunities. Against that history, he said, denying automatic citizenship to future children born in those same territories would be contradictory and deeply disrespectful.

Rodeo said the proposal’s consequences would extend beyond the legal debate because the CNMI has depended on imported labor since the guest worker program began in 1983 and continues to rely heavily on foreign workers under the federal CW program.

Many foreign workers, he said, have spent decades contributing to the Commonwealth’s economy, raising families and building lives here without a realistic pathway to permanent residency or citizenship.

If birthright citizenship were eliminated, Rodeo warned that children born to those families could grow up without permanent legal status, voting rights or certainty about their future despite spending their entire lives in the CNMI.

“In effect, we would be creating a second generation of second-class residents, children whose entire lives begin with institutional exclusion,” Rodeo said.

He said such children could be treated as perpetual outsiders and may not develop the same sense of belonging to the Commonwealth as earlier generations whose citizenship was recognized at birth.

Rodeo warned that the legislation could accelerate the CNMI’s long-term population and economic decline unless the Commonwealth and the other territories strongly opposed it.

“I genuinely believe that if legislation like this were enacted, it would accelerate the CNMI’s long-term decline unless our local government, alongside the other U.S. territories, aggressively pushed for its repeal,” he said.

He noted that a significant part of the CNMI community consists of children of foreign workers or families closely connected to them. Had the proposed policy existed decades ago, Rodeo said, tens of thousands of people could have grown up in the same uncertain legal position.

Despite his concerns about the federal government and the country’s political direction, Rodeo said he remains profoundly grateful that he was born on Saipan in the late 1980s as a U.S. citizen.

“Everyone in the territories should be paying close attention,” he said. “We need to be talking about this publicly, educating our communities about what is at stake, and urging our elected officials to oppose any effort that undermines the promises made in the Covenant.”

Rodeo said belonging should be measured by a person’s commitment to a community rather than ancestry or the circumstances surrounding their birth.

“Home is not measured solely by ancestry or the circumstances of one’s birth. It is measured by love, sacrifice, commitment, and the willingness to invest your life in a place and its people,” he said. “Prosperity has never grown from exclusion. It has always grown from community.”

King-Hinds said she supports securing U.S. borders and prosecuting people who commit immigration fraud, but believes the proposed End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act targets the wrong population.

“I support securing our borders and stopping anyone who tries to abuse America’s immigration laws,” King-Hinds said. “If someone is exploiting our immigration system, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I have zero tolerance for fraud or abuse.”

“But this bill targets the wrong people,” she added.

King-Hinds noted that the CNMI does not control who is admitted into the islands. Since the federalization of local immigration in 2009, the federal government has exercised authority over border security, visas, inspections, and immigration enforcement in the Commonwealth.

If vulnerabilities exist, she said, Congress should strengthen federal enforcement rather than single out people living in the territories.

“The Northern Mariana Islands also have a unique relationship with the United States through our Covenant, a negotiated agreement that deserves careful consideration before Congress changes the rights of people born in the Commonwealth,” King-Hinds said.

She also expressed concern that the bill would create one citizenship standard for people born in the 50 states and another for those born in the territories.

“The people of the CNMI have disproportionately and proudly served in our Armed Forces, contributed to this nation, and lived as loyal Americans for generations,” she said. “They should not become the testing ground for policies that Congress cannot or will not apply elsewhere.”

King-Hinds said immigration enforcement and the prevention of abuse can be achieved without unfairly targeting U.S. territories.

Deleon Guerrero said people in the CNMI should never have to question whether their rights as American citizens are being protected in Washington, D.C.

“Under the Covenant, citizenship is more than legal status—it is a promise that every child born in our islands fully belongs to the American family,” Deleon Guerrero said. “That promise should never be threatened.”

He said the introduction of legislation seeking to end birthright citizenship in the territories should concern every CNMI family because citizenship has enabled generations of Commonwealth residents to serve in the military, participate in democracy and contribute to American society.

“Citizenship is the foundation of those opportunities. It should never be tinkered with,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero noted that although the bill would apply only to future births, any weakening of birthright citizenship could create insecurity over rights long enjoyed by Americans.

“We have one of the highest rates of military service in the nation, and our sons and daughters should never have to question whether their citizenship will be fully protected for future generations,” he said.

He also criticized King-Hinds, his opponent in the delegate race, saying relationships in Washington matter only when they are used to protect the people of the CNMI.

King-Hinds’ statement in the document, however, expressly opposes the legislation and pledges to protect the rights of Commonwealth residents.

Foreign worker advocate Irene Holl questioned why the proposal focuses on the CNMI, Guam, and the other territories rather than addressing birth tourism through immigration enforcement.

“Why target CNMI and Guam? I understand they have concerns about birth tourism but it’s going to hurt more than help,” Holl said. “What about the children of U.S. citizens and legal foreign workers? I’m not in support of this idea.”

Another foreign worker advocate, Carlito Marquez, said the bill could leave children born in the CNMI beginning in 2027 without secure nationality or status. He also raised concerns about its effect on the negotiated citizenship provisions of the Covenant.

Marquez said that if security or birth tourism is the real concern, the federal government should instead impose safeguards on visitors entering the territories, including limits intended to prevent travel specifically for childbirth.

“If the issue is security concern, they should just create safeguards for people entering CNMI or other U.S. territories,” Marquez said. “Limit the stay to avoid birthright citizenship.”

He also suggested screening travelers to prevent the admission of tourists who are close to giving birth within their permitted period of stay.

Businessman Bong Malasarte said he strongly opposes the proposed legislation because people born in the CNMI and the other territories deserve equal recognition and protection of their citizenship rights.

“Any change affecting such a fundamental right should be carefully considered, consistent with the U.S. Constitution, existing federal law, and, in the CNMI’s case, the Covenant with the United States,” Malasarte said. “Our future generations should not be placed in legal uncertainty."

Former lawmaker Edwin K. Propst, whose mother is Filipino, described the measure as “an assault on our rights.”

Propst called the proposal “deplorable,” “selective” and “racist,” and questioned how the number of births in the CNMI compares with births in the states.

Supporters of the End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act, meanwhile, say the legislation is intended to curb so-called birth tourism rather than deny citizenship to the children of Americans.

The bill’s stated intent is to preserve automatic citizenship for children born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the CNMI when at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. It would target births to foreign nationals who travel to a U.S. territory to secure a U.S. passport for their child and would apply only to children born on or after Jan. 1, 2027.

Virginia Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith introduced H.R. 9724, which would amend federal statutes granting citizenship to people born in the four territories.

Griffith said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Barbara left the door open for Congress to act on citizenship in the territories.