美国移民新规：依赖公共福利者难获绿卡

美国联邦政府12日发布限制合法移民新规定，提高移民在美长期合法居留经济门槛，凡被发现可能成为“公共负担”的外国公民或被禁止进入美国或调整移民身份。这项规定将于今年10月15日生效。

US President Donald Trump's administration is to make it more difficult for poorer legal migrants to extend their visas or gain permanent resident status (a green card).

美国政府将加大贫困合法移民申请续签签证或获得永久居民身份（绿卡）的难度。

The rule targets migrants who rely on public benefits, such as food aid or public housing, for more than a year.

这项规定针对的是那些依赖食品券和公共住房等公共福利生活超过一年的移民。

Their applications will be rejected if the government decides they are likely to rely on public assistance in future.

如果政府认为他们未来可能依赖公共援助，其申请将被拒绝。

The rule change would reinforce "ideals of self-sufficiency," officials said.

有官员表示，这一规则的改变将强化“自给自足的理念”。

self-sufficiency['selfsə'fiʃənsi]：n.自给自足

Anyone who relies on one or more publicly funded social safety net benefits, such as Medicaid or food stamps, is known as a “public charge.”

任何依赖一项或多项公共社会保障福利（如医疗补助计划或食品券）的人都被视为“公共负担”。

According to this rule, an immigrant will be designated as a “public charge” if that person “receives one or more designated public benefits for more than 12 months in the aggregate within any 36-month period.”

根据规定，在任意36个月内，“累计领取一项或多项指定公共福利超过12个月”的移民将被视为“公共负担”。

The new regulation, known as a "public charge rule", was published in the Federal Register on Monday and will take effect on October 15.

这项“公共负担”新规于周一（8月12日）发表在《联邦公报》上，将于10月15日生效。 

哪些人会受此影响？

Immigrants who are already permanent residents in the US are unlikely to be affected by the rule change.

已经是美国永久居民的移民不太可能受到新规的影响。

Undocumented immigrants would not be affected -- unless an avenue opens up for them to apply for green cards or visas since they are largely ineligible for public aid.

非法移民不会受到影响，除非他们有机会申请绿卡或签证，因为他们大部分没有资格获得公共援助。

It also does not apply to refugees and asylum applicants.

这项新规也不适用于难民和庇护申请人。

But applicants for visa extensions, green cards or US citizenship will be subject to the change.

但申请续签签证、绿卡或美国公民身份的人将受此影响。

Those who do not meet income standards or who are deemed likely to rely on benefits such as Medicaid (government-run healthcare) or housing vouchers in future may be blocked from entering the country.

那些收入不达标或被认为未来可能依赖医疗补助计划（政府医疗保健）或住房券等福利的人可能被禁止入境。

Those already in the US could also have their applications rejected.

已经身在美国的人，申请也可能会被拒绝。

An estimated 22 million legal residents in the US are without citizenship, and many of these are likely to be affected.

据估计，美国约有2200万合法居民没有公民身份，其中许多人可能会受到影响。

Civil rights groups have said the move unfairly targets low-income immigrants. The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has said it will sue the Trump administration to stop the regulation from taking effect.

民权组织表示，此举专门针对低收入移民，有失公允。美国国家移民法律中心表示，将起诉特朗普政府，以阻止该规定生效。

But the White House said the current system favors immigrants with family ties rather than those who "are self-sufficient and do not strain our public resources".

但白宫方面表示，目前的移民体系更青睐在美国有家庭关系的移民，而不是那些“自给自足、不会造成公共资源紧张”的移民。

新规与特朗普政府移民政策一致

Since his inauguration, Mr Trump has cut the number of refugees admitted to the US each year. The White House blocked a Senate compromise immigration proposal in January 2018 in part because it did not include changes to the legal immigration system.

自就职以来，特朗普每年都在削减进入美国的难民人数。2018年1月，白宫否决了参议院的移民提案，部分原因是提案未包括对合法移民体系的改革，而这一提案是此前两党妥协的结果。

inauguration [ɪ,nɔːgjʊ'reɪʃ(ə)n]：n.就职典礼

Now the administration is making it more difficult for less affluent individuals to obtain legal US residency - or perhaps even enter the country at all.

如今，特朗普政府加大了经济能力较差的个人获得美国合法居留权的难度，他们甚至可能根本无法入境。

This sets up an election clash next year between a president sharpening and broadening his immigration rhetoric and Democrats, many of whom have said they believe all immigrants, legal or otherwise, should be eligible for public aid.

这将在明年的美国总统大选中引发一场冲突，一方是正在强化和扩大其移民言论的总统，另一方是民主党人。许多民主党人曾表示，他们认为所有移民，无论合法与否，都应有资格得到公共援助。

 为什么要颁布移民新规？

President Trump has made immigration a central theme of his administration. This latest move is part of his government's efforts to curb legal immigration.

特朗普总统将移民问题作为政府的中心议题。这是其减少合法移民数量的最新举措。

"To protect benefits for American citizens, immigrants must be financially self-sufficient," a White House statement read after the rule change was announced.

在新规公布后，白宫发表声明称：“为了保护美国公民的利益，移民必须在经济上自给自足。”

It said two-thirds of immigrants entering the US "do so based on family ties rather than on skill or merit".

声明称，三分之二的移民“基于家庭关系，而不是技能或优势”进入美国。

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, announced the regulation at a press conference on Monday.

周一（8月12日），美国公民及移民服务局代理局长肯•库奇内利在新闻发布会上宣布了这一规定。

He said finances, education, age, and the level of an applicant's English-language skills will all be considered in green card applications. "No one factor alone" will decide a case, he added.

他说，经济、教育、年龄和申请者的英语水平都将被视为绿卡申请的考量因素。他补充说，“不会单凭某一个因素”决定一个申请是否通过。

“We expect people of any income to stand on their own two feet,” Cuccinelli said on Monday.

他表示：“我们希望所有收入阶层的人们都能够自食其力。”

The Trump administration has also cracked down on illegal immigration. Last week, about 680 people were arrested in Mississippi on suspicion of being undocumented migrants.

特朗普政府也对非法移民进行打击。上周，密西西比州约有680人因涉嫌非法移民而被捕。

The number of would-be migrants apprehended at the US southern border with Mexico has been rising over the last two years.

过去两年，在美国南部与墨西哥边境被捕的潜在移民人数一直在上升。

apprehend[æprɪ'hend]：vt.逮捕

However, the number of undocumented immigrants in the US is falling, according to recent analysis from the Pew Research Center.

然而，皮尤研究中心最新分析显示，美国的非法移民人数正在下降。

In May, President Trump put forward proposals for a new skills-based immigration system, designed to favor younger, better educated, English-speaking workers.

今年5月，特朗普总统提出了一项以技能为基础的新移民体系提案，旨在吸引更年轻、受教育程度更高、会说英语的人移民美国。

 

新规会产生“寒蝉效应”？

The 837-page rule applies to those seeking to come to or remain in the United States via legal channels and is expected to impact roughly 382,000 people seeking to adjust their immigration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. However, immigration advocates say millions of people could be affected by the regulation.

根据美国国土安全部的数据，这项长达837页的规定适用于那些寻求通过合法途径来美国或定居美国的人，预计将影响约38.2万打算调整移民身份的人。然而，移民支持者表示，这一新规可能影响到数百万人。

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Monday evening that she plans to sue to block the rule.

纽约司法部长莉蒂夏·詹姆斯周一晚间宣布，她计划提起诉讼，阻止这项规定实施。

Immigrant advocates have argued that the rule goes beyond what Congress intended and would discriminate against those from poorer countries, keep families apart and prompt legal residents to forgo needed public aid, which could also impact their US citizen children.

移民维权人士辩称，该规定超出了国会的本意，是对来自较贫穷国家移民的歧视，使家庭分离，还会导致合法居民放弃必要的公共援助，或将影响其美国公民子女。

forgo [fɔː'gəʊ; fə-]：vi.放弃；停止

They also said it would penalize even hard-working immigrants who only need a small bit of temporary assistance from the government.

他们还表示，即使是辛勤工作、只需要政府提供少许临时援助的移民，也会处于不利境地。

About one in seven adults in immigrant families reported that either the person or a family member did not participate in a non-cash safety net program last year because of fear of risking his or her green card status in the future, an Urban Institute study found.

美国城市研究所调查发现，在移民家庭中，约七分之一的成年人表示，由于担心将来失去绿卡，去年自己或家人没有参加非现金保障计划。