VOA慢速英语:US Senate Votes to Open Debate on Immigration Bill

Earlier this week, the United States Senate voted to begin debate on a historic immigration bill. The proposed law would offer a chance for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, those not in the country legally, to become American citizens. It would also increase the number of foreign temporary technology workers at a time when American technology workers face high unemployment.
本周早些时候，美国参议院投票针对一项历史性的移民法案展开辩论。这一拟议的法案将为超过1100万非法滞留的无证移民提供一个成为美国公民机会。同时，在美国技术工人面临高失业率的时候，该法案还会增加外国临时技术工人的数量。

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama said this is "the best chance in years" to achieve "common sense reform." He called on Congress to approve the bill.
周二，奥巴马总统表示，这是多年来进行“共同性改革”的“最佳机会”。他呼吁国会批准该法案。

"If you genuinely believe we need to fix our broken immigration system, there's no good reason to stand in the way of this bill."
“如果你确实认为我们应当修复我们支离破碎的移民体制，就没有任何理由阻碍该法案的通过。”

The vote to permit debate passed easily, 82-15. It clears the way for discussions that political observers say could extend through the rest of the month. The legislation establishes a 13-year citizenship process for immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally.
允许进行辩论的投票以82:15轻松通过，为政治观察家们宣称可能会持续后半个月的讨论扫清了道路。这一立法为非法进入美国的移民提供了一条十三年成为公民的渠道。

Public opinion studies released Thursday suggest wide support for the main reforms. People in 29 states were asked questions about immigration. A majority supported reforms that included stronger border security, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and laws to block employers from hiring people living in the United States illegally.
周四公布的民意调查显示人们广泛地支持主要的改革。29个州的民众回答了关于移民的问题。大多数支持改革，包括加强边境安全，为无证移民提供成为公民的渠道，以及出台法律禁止雇主雇佣非法拘留人员。

The studies did not ask about a disputed part of the bill that would increase the number of temporary foreign technology workers.
这次民意调查并未对该法案包括提高外国临时技术工人数量这些争议部分进行调查。

Labor rights groups and business groups disagree about that issue. Some businesses threatened to withdraw their support for immigration reform if the resulting bill did not drop a requirement that employers seek American workers before hiring foreigners.
劳工权利组织和商业组织对该问题持不同意见。一些企业威胁，如果最终法案不放弃要求雇主在聘用外国人之前必须先寻找美国工人的要求，他们就撤回对移民改革的支持。

Foreign scientists, engineers and computer programmers can live and work in the United States under special permits called H-1B visas. Many young scientists and engineers in India, China and other developing countries compete for the work permits. Large technology companies like Intel, Adobe and Microsoft had asked for an increased number of workers with H-1B visas.
外国科学家，工程师和电脑程序员在特别许可，也就是持有H-1B签证的情况下可以在美国工作和生活。许多印度、中国和其它发展中国家的年轻科学家和工程师竞争这一工作许可。因特尔，奥多比和微软等大型科技公司都要求增加持有H-1B签证的工作人员数量。

A group representing American engineers had asked Congress to limit the number of foreign engineers as part of the bill. Instead, the new bill increases the number of H-1B visas.
代表美国工程师的一个组织曾要求国会把限制外国工程师数量作为法案的一部分。而新的法案却要求增加H-1B签证的数量。

Labor rights groups strongly support citizenship for undocumented low wage workers but dispute whether more temporary technology workers are needed in the United States. They say foreign workers force down wages.
劳工权利组织强烈支持为低收入的无证工人提供公民身份。但争辩美国是否需要更多临时技术工人。他们说，外国工人压低了工资。

In Washington, the New America Alliance held a discussion and news conference after the Senate vote. The alliance is made up of Latino American business people.
在华盛顿，新美国联盟在参议院投票后进行了讨论，并举行新闻发布会。该联盟由美籍拉丁美裔企业家组成。

The event included an emotional statement by a young undocumented immigrant woman. Julieta Garibay works on legislation for an organization led by young immigrants called United We Dream.
在会议上，一名年轻的非法移民女性发表了动情的声明。Julieta Garibay在一家由被称为“美国梦”的年轻移民领导的组织从事立法工作。

"We deserve justice and dignity in this great country, because at the end of the day, to us this is not a bill of a thousand plus pages. This is our lives."
“在这个伟大的国家，我们需要得到正义和尊严，因为对我们来说，该法案对我们来说不是一千多页纸，而是我们的生活。”