WELCOMING THE OVERSTAY EXPRESS: HOW THE CNMI (AGAIN) EXPLOITS NATIONAL SECURITY LOOPHOLES VIA "TOURISM & INVESTMENTS"....AS LONG AS THEY AREN'T AMERICAN....
Updated: Apr 7
In the sun-drenched archipelago of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), where turquoise waters lap against WWII relics and American flags flutter alongside foreign capital, a quiet but corrosive express train has been running for decades.
It is not powered by locomotives but by policy loopholes, visa waivers, parole programs, and a territorial establishment that prioritizes "tourism and investments" — so long as the beneficiaries are not American citizens, indigenous Carolinian or Chuukese people, or U.S. workers demanding fair wages.
This is the Overstay Express:
a federally enabled pipeline that has funneled Chinese and Filipino nationals into the CNMI through birth tourism, visa fraud, overstays, and foreign-dominated businesses, hemorrhaging remittances outward while displacing American labor and eroding national security.
The 2025 Unified Edition of the America First in the Pacific: CNMI Policy Report — prepared by the CNMI Growers Association and authored from the ground up by Zaji Zajradhara, an Afro-Latino-Seminole American resident branded persona non grata for filing labor complaints against entities like Tan Holdings — lays bare the reality.
It documents federal fraud, foreign labor capture, remittance hemorrhage, constitutional deprivation, corrupt elite collaboration, eminent domain abuses, and the legislative record that has turned the CNMI into a strategic vulnerability on America's Pacific frontier.
Read>>>>
As the report's foreword declares: "I came to it the hard way, from the inside, as a man who moved to these islands believing in the promise of American territory and who found, instead, a system designed from the ground up to make that promise unreachable for people who look like me, who work like me, and who refuse to stay quiet about it."
This expanded analysis, drawing directly from that report, open-source federal data, U.S. Census figures, CNMI birth records, criminal convictions, congressional letters, and DHS reports, exposes how the CNMI has again become a backdoor for exploitation — even as President Trump's America First agenda, under incoming DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, ramps up mass deportations and border enforcement.
The March 5, 2026, Mass Deportation Coalition statement welcoming Mullin's nomination pledges a "playbook" for Phase II mass deportations targeting visa overstays and worksite enforcement.
Yet in the CNMI, the Overstay Express continues unabated:
direct Philippine Airlines flights from Manila to Saipan, incomplete biometrics at airports, a TSA workforce heavy with Filipino nationals amid allegations of facilitated entries, and a visa waiver program that Senator Rick Scott's One Nation, One Visa Policy Act seeks to reform — though critics argue it insufficiently addresses Filipino alongside Chinese abuses.
This is not abstract policy; it is documented fraud costing American taxpayers, suppressing wages for U.S. citizens, and creating "Manchurian Generation" risks through birthright citizenship exploitation. As the congressional letter from Reps. Chip Roy, Tom Tiffany, and 30+ colleagues (March 9, 2026) to Secretaries Noem, Rubio, and Burgum warns:
over 3,300 Chinese babies born in Saipan since 2009 via Obama-era parole and Biden's EVS-TAP, more foreign births than U.S. births at peak, with potential chain migration and CCP influence; now, the threat facing the CNMI is Repopulation by overstaying Filipinos.
The timing could not be more urgent.
On March 5, 2026, the Mass Deportation Coalition welcomed Mullin's nomination, pledging a "playbook" for Phase II mass deportations targeting visa overstays and worksite enforcement.
Yet in the CNMI, the Overstay Express continues unabated.
This article expands and combines the core arguments from the America First report's nine chapters with the latest open-source evidence, creating a comprehensive, unapologetically America First exposé.
It draws on the report's foreword, executive summary, Chapter One (The Architecture of Dependency), Chapter Two (forensic CW-1 visa fraud analysis naming Tan Holdings and Hong Ye), Chapter Three (economic hemorrhage and remittances), and the broader national security imperative in Chapter Six. Every section is expanded with historical context, data tables, case studies, legislative cross-references, and repeated emphasis on the Covenant violations, constitutional deprivations, and the urgent need for federal reclamation under Trump 2.0.
The CNMI is American soil.
American citizens come first.
The Overstay Express must be derailed.
1. Historical Visa Fraud by Chinese and Filipino Nationals: A Pattern of Exploitation
The CNMI's immigration history is a case study in loophole exploitation, as meticulously detailed in the America First report's Chapter Two forensic analysis. Prior to federalization under the 2008 Consolidated Natural Resources Act (effective 2009), the CNMI operated its own system, issuing CW-1 visas that became magnets for fraud.
Post-federalization, the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program (G-CNMI VWP) and Obama-era categorical parole for Chinese nationals allowed visa-free entry for up to 45 days (later adjusted), ostensibly for tourism but weaponized for birth tourism and labor trafficking.
Open-source records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for Guam and the CNMI reveal repeated prosecutions.
In March 2026, a Philippine national was sentenced for immigration fraud after presenting fake U.S. Permanent Resident Cards at Saipan airport to fly to Hawaii. ICE HSI arrested two Filipinos in 2021 linked to a CNMI visa fraud scheme involving A&A Enterprise CNMI, LLC. Angel Paras Cruz Jr. was indicted in May 2025 for visa fraud, false statements on I-129CW forms, and underpaying foreign workers while deducting unauthorized costs like plane tickets and visa fees.
Chinese nationals have faced similar scrutiny: Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC's majority owner Cui Lijie was arrested by ICE in 2025 for immigration violations; EB-5 investors alleged $13.4 million fraud in a Saipan casino project tied to Chinese capital.
The America First report's Chapter Two provides the forensic depth: a systematic pattern of I-129CW and ETA-9142C falsification by named employer networks. Tan Holdings Corporation and affiliates stand out for documented petition practices that prioritize foreign labor while excluding American workers.
Federal enforcement records show Tan Holdings entities filing petitions with materially different screening for U.S. citizen applicants — longer interviews, higher qualification bars, and outright rejections despite qualifications. Investigators are urged to review all historical I-129CW filings by Tan Holdings and related entities for gaps between attested labor needs and actual hires.
Hong Ye's model is described as even more acute: manpower agency-style fraud where petitions claim specialized skills but place workers in unrelated low-skill roles.
Read >>> Tan holdings AKA the PuppetMaster is the true Controller of the CNMI
Birth tourism exploded under the 2009, (*during the tenure of Delegate Kilili-Sablan, with both his Blessing and Begging) parole program. CNMI Commonwealth Health Center data (cited in VOA, Pacific Island Times, and the Roy-Tiffany letter) shows foreign visitor births surging from fewer than 10 in 2009 to nearly 600 in 2018 — over 3,300 Chinese babies in Saipan alone since 2009. In 2012, Chinese tourist births (356) outnumbered indigenous (295). By 2017-2018, Chinese births exceeded U.S. births.
This was no accident: over 500 Chinese companies marketed Saipan as a "birth tourism" destination, bypassing mainland visa scrutiny.
As the America First report details in Chapter Two, CW-1 programs enabled "sham job" postings that displaced American workers, with Tan Holdings and affiliates staffing positions via foreign labor while U.S. citizens faced exclusion.
Filipino involvement mirrors this: Sino-Filipino Fraud keeps the CNMI impoverished.
Historical cases include fraudulent documents for employment and overstays. DHS Entry/Exit Overstay Reports flag the Philippines for elevated risks due to historical patterns. Community reports in the CNMI allege irregularities, including pregnant Filipino passengers bypassing scrutiny — claims the letter to Mullin urges DHS OIG to investigate.
(Editors Note: It is a well-known fact that the TSA FILIPINO STAFF have a system in place that allows illegals to BOTH enter/exit the CNMI without review)
These are not isolated; they form a systemic "re-population" by CCP proxies and Filipino networks, as the America First report labels the CW-1 program a "scam."
Federal desk audits (e.g., FY2021 CNMI compliance report: $51.9 million questioned costs) and GAO-22-105271 highlight workforce trends: 73% foreign worker decline 2001-2020 tied to visa abuse, violating Covenant Section 503.
To fully grasp the scale, consider the Covenant’s original sin, as laid out in the report’s Chapter One.
The 1976 Covenant granted local immigration control to the territorial government under the guise of "development."
This created the architecture of dependency: land ownership restrictions (Article XII of the CNMI Constitution) blocked mainland American competition, limited federal voting rights insulated the elite from accountability, and deferred federalization allowed decades of exploitation. The garment industry boom of the 1980s-1990s imported 30,000-40,000 Filipino and Chinese workers at peak, transforming the workforce to 65%+ foreign-born.
Congressional investigations in the late 1990s documented recruitment fees of $2,000-$7,000, passport confiscations, overcrowded dorms, and human trafficking-like conditions — all enabled by the same political class that profited from land leases and service contracts.
This pattern persists today in "tourism and investments."
The report's executive summary calls it "one of the most comprehensive, documented, and long-running systems of federal fraud, immigration exploitation, constitutional deprivation, and foreign economic capture." American taxpayers fund programs diverted to foreign networks whose primary remittance destinations are the Philippines and PRC.
The Overstay Express is not new; it is the logical evolution of the 1976 structural anomaly.
2. Supreme Court Review of Birthright Citizenship and CNMI's Overt Assistance in Fraud
The 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause *Slavery Amendment ("All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens") has long been interpreted to grant birthright citizenship broadly.
But President Trump's January 2025 Executive Order seeks to limit it for children of undocumented immigrants or temporary-visa holders (post-Feb. 19, 2025), arguing it excludes those not "subject to the jurisdiction" (echoing United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 1898, but distinguishing illegal entrants).
As of March 31, 2026, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara (April 1, 2026), following certiorari granted December 5, 2025.
Lower courts blocked the EO; the administration contends they misread the Clause. Amicus briefs (18 supporting Trump) argue for remaking foundational citizenship to prevent "anchor baby" exploitation. Challengers warn of chaos for millions.
The CNMI's role is central — and damning.
The Roy-Tiffany letter (March 9, 2026) details how Obama’s 2009 parole and Biden’s 2024 EVS-TAP enabled PRC exploitation: births to Chinese visitors jumped from <10 (2009) to ~600 (2018); >3,300 Saipan Chinese births since 2009. More foreign than U.S. births at peaks. PRC firms (500+ birth tourism operators) commodified U.S. citizenship; estimates: 50,000–150,000 Chinese birth tourists annually nationwide, with CNMI as a low-scrutiny Pacific gateway. Once these "anchor" children turn 21, they sponsor parents via chain migration — potential CCP influence vectors, as the letter warns; yet, misses the mark on what it would mean if the imported Sino-Filipinoes were to take control of the CNMI?
CNMI "overt assistance"?
Local policies and federal programs (parole, VWP) facilitated it. The America First report's Chapter Three quantifies suppressed wages and displacement; birth tourism strains Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation resources (high-risk pregnancies undocumented).
As Saipan became a "tropical maternity ward" (NY Post, March 2026), U.S. births were outnumbered, per VOA and WSJ investigations.
Criminal convictions tie in: overstayed Chinese/Filipinos convicted of fraud, with ICE removals (e.g., 122 Chinese criminals in 2025 flight including murder/rape).
CNMI birth/death records (via Commonwealth Healthcare) corroborate the surge, while U.S. Census 2020 shows CNMI's 47,329 population with 62.6% workers foreign-born — demographic engineering via fraud.
This is constitutional deprivation: American citizens denied jobs/land while foreign birth tourists gain citizenship pipelines.
The America First foreword notes: "These are not theoretical deprivations. They are the daily conditions of life for American citizens in this territory." Chapter Four of the report expands on this systematic denial of rights — voting, land ownership, fair employment — under a system that treats mainland Americans as fourth-class in their own territory.
The Covenant’s anomalies compound the injury: indigenous Carolinian and Chuukese peoples marginalized in their ancestral home, American workers excluded by design.
Read:>>>
The report’s executive summary frames the CNMI as irreplaceable in the Second Island Chain for DoD deterrence against CCP power projection, yet simultaneously a site of foreign capture. Birth tourism is not "tourism"; it is strategic demographic infiltration. Trump’s EO and the pending SCOTUS case offer the legal tool to close this loophole.
America First demands it.
3. Open-Source Data on Foreign Businesses and Federal Fraud Desk Audits
Foreign (primarily Chinese (Sino) /(Phillipino) Filipino) dominance is stark.
Tan Holdings Corporation — founded by Tan Siu Lin (Chinese-Filipino roots), headquartered in Saipan since 1983 — controls logistics, aviation, hospitality, retail, and garments. It employs thousands of foreign workers, faced EEOC suits ($1.7M settlement 2009 for national-origin discrimination against non-Chinese/Filipinos), and is criticized in the America First report for labor violations, exclusion of U.S. workers, and political capture.
The report’s Chapter Two names Tan Holdings and Hong Ye explicitly in the forensic analysis.
Tan Holdings’ CW-1 practices show a "documented pattern of American worker exclusion": different screening for U.S. applicants, sham petitions for positions filled by foreign labor. Hong Ye’s model involves manpower agencies filing for specialized roles but assigning unrelated work.
Federal desk audits expose fraud. FY2021 CNMI report: $51.9M questioned costs (CRF, CCDF). GAO workforce data links visa abuse to foreign labor favoritism. DOL audits (e.g., Cruz indictment) reveal false I-129CW certifications, underpayment, unauthorized deductions. The America First report’s legislative record and Chapter Four document "corrupt elite collaboration" enabling this.
Read:>>> About Hong Ye's Systemic Visa Fraud & how they won a Dept of War contract
Open sources (Wikipedia, TanHoldings.com, CNMIGA reports) show Tan Holdings' empire spans garment sweatshops (pre-2000s), casinos (Imperial Pacific ties), and supply chains sourcing from China/Philippines. EB-5 fraud allegations (2025 lawsuit: $13.4M Chinese investors duped in Saipan casino). Other foreign businesses: Imperial Pacific (Chinese-owned casino, labor scandals, deaths/injuries probed by FBI).
Repopulation of the CNMI with America's Enemies:
U.S. Census 2020/2023: CNMI population ~47,329 (down to ~43,900 est. 2025); 62.6% workers born outside CNMI (vs. 37.4% local).
Foreign-born dominance in private sector; indigenous unemployment persists amid wage suppression.
The report’s Chapter One traces this to the garment era’s "first great importation," where 30,000-40,000 foreign workers flooded Saipan factories under non-American labor standards, relegating locals to the margins.
This dominance is not organic capitalism; it is federally enabled capture.
America First policy requires worksite enforcement, E-Verify equivalents, and indigenous hiring quotas to reclaim the economy for American citizens.
4. Remittance Data: Hemorrhage Draining the CNMI Economy
Remittances quantify the "capture."
World Bank/KNOMAD data shows Philippines as top recipient (~$40B in 2023, ~$39B+ recent); China ~$50B inflows but outflows too. CNMI-specific: high outflows to Philippines/China via Filipino/Chinese workers.
BSP Philippines data tracks OFW remittances from CNMI (small but part of Pacific flows); America First report (Chapter Three) estimates suppressed wages paid to foreigners remitted abroad, not recirculated locally.
Chapter Three of the report — "The Economic Hemorrhage" — provides the quantitative hammer.
Foreign workers (CW-1, visa overstays) dominate low-wage sectors. Conservative estimates: ~6,800 foreign workers (2022-2024), avg. $16,000 annual earnings, 35-42% remittance rate = $38-46M annual outflow to Philippines and PRC.
Cumulative over decades: billions lost.
The "double drain" hits American taxpayers twice — once funding programs diverted to fraud, again as wages leave the local economy.
READ>>>
Table (derived from report estimates):
Period Est. Foreign Workers Avg. Annual Earnings Est. Remittance Rate Est. Annual Outflow Primary Destinations
2022–2024 ~6,800 $16,000 35–42% $38–46M Philippines, PRC
READ>>>
This starves local businesses, housing, and American families — exactly as the report warns: "foreign labor capture" and "economic interests" over U.S. citizens. Senator Scott’s proposed remittance tax (5.75% on transfers $1+) in the report’s Chapter Seven reform agenda would redirect $2-3.2M annually back to the U.S. treasury while discouraging the hemorrhage. America First means ending the subsidy to foreign economies at the expense of our territory.
5. CNMI TSA Staff Makeup: Filipino Nationals in Control — and the Inside Job?
CNMI demographics (Census 2020: significant Filipino population, part of 62.6% foreign-born workforce) extend to airport/security roles.
TSA/CBP at Saipan International Airport (SPN) reflects local labor pools heavy in Filipino nationals (historical migration via garments/tourism). The Mullin letter cites "significant portion of the CNMI workforce and airport personnel including Filipino nationals," with "persistent allegations" of facilitating improper entries (e.g., pregnant Filipino passengers bypassing scrutiny).
These "word on the street" claims warrant OIG investigation for conflicts/lax enforcement.
No public exact TSA roster, but patterns mirror broader CNMI:
foreign labor in key operations.
Prior issues: visa fraud cases involving Filipinos at ports; ICE arrests linked to airport schemes.
Controlling TSA (screening for Philippine Airlines direct flights) raises vetting concerns amid overstay risks.
The report’s national security chapter (Six) ties this to broader Indo-Pacific vulnerabilities, where foreign-dominated security roles create backdoors in a strategic military corridor.
6. Why Biometrics Are Critical — and Missing in CNMI Airports
Biometrics (facial recognition, fingerprints) are foundational to post-9/11 security:
verify identity against watchlists, detect overstays/fraud in real-time.
DHS/CBP's IDENT/NGI systems cross-reference with FBI IAFIS.
Yet CNMI airports lag: Saipan has CBP Simplified Arrival (facial comparison for some arrivals), but full operational biometric scanners across TSA screening, exit verification, and high-volume international flights (e.g., Philippine Airlines Manila-Saipan) remain "incomplete or underutilized," per the Mullin letter.
Without comprehensive real-time facial recognition tied to APIS/watchlists, foreign nationals bypass measures.
This enables the Overstay Express: overstays strain resources, enable infiltration (CCP-linked threats via Philippines routes). The letter demands immediate full deployment before EVS-TAP expansion or new programs.
Biometrics prevent "backdoor vulnerabilities" — especially with direct flights amplifying risks. The America First report’s Chapter Six frames this as part of the Indo-Pacific strategy:
CNMI as DoD’s dispersed basing node cannot tolerate unvetted entries.
7. Double-Vetting for Foreign Nationals to Mainland America: Reviewing Past Visa Fraud
All foreign nationals relocating to the U.S. mainland from CNMI must be double-vetted:
CNMI entry + full federal scrutiny.
Historical CNMI fraud (CW-1 scams, birth tourism, overstays) taints records.
The America First report urges reviewing all prior employment visa fraud — sham petitions, false statements (e.g., Cruz case), underpayment.
Without it, fraudsters migrate onward (e.g., Saipan-to-Guam boat crossings reported). Trump's mass deportation playbook (worksites, data transparency) demands this:
HSI/ICE audits, biometric exit, carrier (PHILLIPINE AIR, HONG KONG, ECT) sanctions for ANY overstay rates.
8. The Rhetorical Question: Why Isn’t HSI/FBI Doing More on Known Visa Fraud Tips in the CNMI?
Why, indeed?
The America First report documents "known / provided tips" of visa fraud — labor complaints, discrimination claims, Tan Holdings challenges — met with retaliation, not investigation. HSI/FBI have prosecuted cases (Filipino/Chinese fraud, Imperial Pacific), but systemic issues persist: political capture, under-enforcement, resource gaps in remote territory.
As the report asks: in a territory where American workers are displaced and constitutional rights "negotiable," why the blind eye for decades?
With Mullin's DHS mandate and mass deportation coalition, the time for accountability is now — or the Overstay Express derails America's Pacific frontier.
NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS: THE PHILIPPINE AIRLINES ROUTE AS A CCP AND OVERSTAY BACKDOOR — OVERSTAYING OPERATIVES, ILLEGAL WORKERS, COMMUNIST NETWORKS, AND TERROR TRAINING PIPELINES IN A HEIGHTENED THREAT ENVIRONMENT
In an era of heightened national security threats — including CCP influence operations, transnational organized crime, jihadist extremism, and domestic radicalization — the direct Philippine Airlines (PAL) flights from Manila to Saipan represent far more than a convenient tourism link.
They constitute a high-risk vector for the Overstay Express, enabling overstaying Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operatives, Filipino nationals seeking unauthorized employment, and potentially far more dangerous actors to exploit the CNMI as America's westernmost territorial backdoor.
The America First in the Pacific report, congressional oversight letters, DHS overstay data, and open-source intelligence paint a clear picture: the CNMI's lax enforcement, combined with Philippine-specific risk factors, creates exploitable vulnerabilities that demand immediate, aggressive federal intervention under Secretary Markwayne Mullin's leadership.
First, the demographic and economic reality of Filipino outbound travel underpins the feasibility of "leisure" claims versus illicit intent.
As of March 2026, the Philippines has officially crossed into upper-middle-income economy status per World Bank classifications.
Yet poverty incidence hovers at 15.5%, with 30% of households vulnerable. True discretionary wealth for international leisure travel is confined to the top 10–20% income quintiles. Outbound tourism stats show most "tourists" on PAL routes align with labor migration profiles — contradicting "tourism booster" narratives. Layered over DHS overstay reports, this signals systemic abuse.
This intersects with Philippine structural risks:
Chinese-Filipino business networks (e.g., FFCCCII) with PRC ties, active CPP/NPA communist guerrillas (780–1,100 fighters as of March 2026, boasting advances), and southern Philippines as a terrorist training hub for ASG, ISIS-East Asia (U.S. State Department reports document FTFs, paramilitary training, bomb-making). PAL’s direct Manila-Saipan service bypasses deeper vetting, creating a "train-and-transit" vulnerability.
The implications extend to election / Geo-strategic interference via "Manchurian" citizens, espionage in military-adjacent zones, and radicalization pipelines.
Immediate demands:
1. Immigration Enforcement Surge in the CNMI: 100% biometric audits of CW-1 holders, visa waiver entrants, etc. Leverage the America First report as predicate.
2. Secretary Mullin-Led Vetting Overhaul: Pre-departure biometrics in Manila, visa bonds, carrier sanctions. Terminate PAL operations if overstay thresholds exceeded.
3. Zero-Tolerance Backdoor Closure: Full facial recognition, E-Verify, indigenous hiring quotas.
The CNMI is America's westernmost soil, yet treated as a foreign labor colony.
The America First report, congressional letters, DHS data, Census, convictions, and audits paint a damning picture: "tourism & investments" enriching foreign networks at U.S. expense. Under Trump 2.0 and Mullin, enhanced enforcement, biometrics, VWP reform, and birthright review offer reclamation. American citizens — not just in the CNMI but nationwide — deserve a system that puts them first.
The Overstay Express must be derailed.
Congress, DHS, and DOJ: the evidence is open-source and overwhelming. Act.
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