Henry Andersen Northern Marianas College Presentation II Henry Andersen Northern Marianas College

Results from my research project Research question: Can Birth Tourism to the CNMI negatively affect the tourist industry?

Methods of research Literary review- On line articles, text books Letters to experts Surveys Interviews with subject matter experts.

Literary review On line articles and statistics, As seen in the E portfolio there were numerous articles published on my topic of choice. Thou not all were utilized, all were very informative. The most important finding was the actual numbers of births to Chinese mothers, which were greater than all other births combined. Secondly, that in less than eight years the numbers of Chinese births has grown over 5500%.

Letters to experts My letters to experts proved to be un helpful, as I chose to write to the Heads of major U.S. agencies. For future projects I might be a little more realistic in my choices when attempting to solicit information from experts.

Surveys My survey of NMC students on my topic resulted in 11 responses, those combine with other informal interviews gave me a lot of good information. I didn’t find anyone who hadn’t heard of birth tourism. Almost all had or has seen on a regular basis, pregnant women again mostly Chinese walking around Garapan or along Beach road or in T Galeria as a nightly occurrence. The majority don’t think birth tourism is good for the CNMI but there were some who weren’t bothered by it and a few that thought it was a good thing.

Interviews with experts Those in law enforcement that I spoke with all said that the numbers of foreign tourists, mainly Chinese that were coming to give birth was continuing to grow. Anywhere from three up to ten pregnant women are coming off planes from China on a daily basis. All with the intent to have a U.S. citizen child. While giving birth here is not a crime, the ultimate violating of U.S. immigration law to do it, is a crime.

Conclusion With the numbers of birth tourists continuing to grow from China and the flagrant violations of this Country's laws, it’s only a matter of time before the “visa waiver” program that is meant to help the CNMI economy becomes to much of a liability and is forced to be rescinded. And if history is any guide, the CNMI government won’t be ready for this eventuality and will be forced to scramble to make up for the loss of tourists from China.