There are maybe 30 flights a day from Shanghai to Saipan – and birthright citizenship means that a pregnant woman who takes that 4 hour flight from the People’s Republic can give birth to an anchor baby in Saipan. And from what I read, there are times when the People’s Republic will cover the cost of the ticket.
When I left Trinidad, Gonzalo gave me his ‘carry’ switchblade so I would have something to remember him. I didn’t need it – I remembered his mother’s story – how a very pregnant teenager made the trip from Yucatan to El Paso so Gonzalo could be born in the USA and be welcome in the USA as an American citizen. As an impoverished Mayan, she took a dangerous, uncomfortable trip north so she could give Gonzalo the gift of a US citizenship. I am pleased to have known Gonzalo, and recognize him as my countryman. I would have been equally pleased had his mother been a Yankee citizen too. Courage and determination like hers is a strength to any nation.
The expectant Chinese mothers have a much easier trip than she would have had in the early sixties.
Since 2019, birth tourism for Chinese has been limited to a 14 day visa. Before that, a 45 day visa was the norm – which usually left plenty of time to give birth in the Marianas (a US territory) and return to the People’s Republic without overstaying the visa. Now birth tourism carries a greater chance of overstaying the visa.
The US does not keep track of how many young Americans are growing up in the People’s Republic – but Chinese authorities have released an estimate that exceeds a million. More Chinese women are giving birth in Saipan maternity wards than Saipan women. As I listened to one woman’s story, of the need to get her infant US citizenship and a US passport, it was, in some ways, a similar story to crossing the Rio years ago. On the other hand, a million Chinese raised US citizens can play merry hell with our politics. I don’t even need a calculator to describe the potential of bringing a million Chinese trained US voters into the country.
My scientific wild-assed guess is that 300,000 new voters would be more than enough to turn Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas from red to blue. It might not be a large enough surprise to affect a Presidential election – but over six years it would turn 8 Republican senate seats blue – and the whole senate. I wouldn’t know what to do with the remaining 700,000 Chinese raised American voters – but I suppose they could vote topple the GOP in Texas and Oklahoma.
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