VOA慢速英语:Immigrants Help to Drive Growth in New York

For many years, immigrants have sought better lives for themselves in New York City. Now, a new study says, that immigrants also have helped the city's economy remain strong. New York is in many ways a city of immigrants. The Mayor's office says, the group makes up more than 40 percent of New York's population.
多年以来，移民在纽约为自己追求更好的生活。现在，一项新的研究称，移民也帮助了纽约市的经济保持强劲。纽约市在很多方面都是一个移民城市。市长办公室称，移民群体占到纽约人口的40%以上。

Nisha Agarwal is the immigration commissioner for the city. She says immigrants help drive the city.
Nisha Agarwal是该市的移民官员。她说，移民有助于推动该市发展。

"So we are an immigrant-rich city, and immigrants are in our schools. They are driving our economy at all levels and in all professions. And we need to support that because it not only benefits the families involved, but it benefits the city as a whole," said Agarwal.
Agarwal说：“我们是一个移民很多的城市，移民们在我们的学校里。他们在各个层面和各行各业推动我们的经济发展。而我们需要对此予以支持，因为受益的不仅是涉及到的家庭，它有利于整个城市。”

The Americas Society/Council of the Americas, or AS/COA seeks to educate the public about issues affecting the Americans. The group supported a recent study that examines the part immigrants play in New York City's economy. The study looked at immigration records and neighborhood police reports between 1990 and 2010.
美洲理事会和美洲协会（简称AS/COA）旨在就影响美国人的一些问题对公众进行教育。该组织支持的一项最新研究调查了移民在纽约市经济中发挥的作用。这项研究查阅了1990年到2010年期间的移民记录和街区警察报告。

The report's author, Jacob Vigdor says New York City's economy and the quality of life improved during that period. He said there was a link between improvements in aging neighborhoods and immigration.
该报告的作者Jacob Vigdor称，纽约经济和生活质量在此期间有所改善。他说，老社区和移民之间存在某种联系。

"The immigrants go to these neighborhoods because they are the only places they can afford, and they stabilize those neighborhoods. They reduce the vacancy rates. They reduce the state of disrepair, and these are the things that kind of lead to crime dropping," said Vigdor.
Vigdor说，“移民们去这些街区，因为这是他们唯一能负担得起的地方。他们使这些街区稳定下来。降低了空置率，减少了年久失修的状态。而这些事情会使得犯罪下降。”

Robert Sampson is a social policy professor at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He says immigrants who take risks to come to America are often less likely to take part in crime and more likely to work hard.
Robert Sampson是位于马萨诸塞州剑桥市的哈佛大学的一位社会政策学教授。他说，冒着风险来到美国的移民往往不太可能参与犯罪，他们更可能去努力。

"So why would you come to this country? Well, you want to work. You want to get ahead. You want to raise your family, you want to build, essentially, a community," said Sampson.
Sampson说，“所以，为什么你来到这个国家？好吧，你来这里是想获得工作，你想获得成功，想养家糊口。从本质上讲，是想建设社区。”

Immigrant businesses also help to drive growth in New York. Kate Brick works for AS/COA. He says immigrants do work that others will not.
移民企业也有助于推动纽约的经济增长。Kate Brick就职于美洲理事会和美洲协会。她说，移民会从事他人不做的工作。

"Like in the agricultural sector, the manufacturing sector [and] the service industry. It runs the gamut. And at the same time, immigrants coming to the US are extremely diverse. In addition to people who are working in lower paying jobs, you have some of the best minds in the world that are here working in the tech industry, and in engineering, in science, in the medical field," said Brick.
Brick说，“像农业部门、制造业和服务行业。这包括方方面面。而与此同时，来美国的移民非常多样化。除了做低收入工作的移民，还有些世界上最优秀的人才就职于高科技产业、工程、科学以及医疗领域。

Jacob Vigdor says, all immigrants help support the economy in some way by paying sales taxes and property taxes.
Jacob Vigdor说，所有的这些移民通过支付销售税和财产税给经济以支持。

"You need to buy things, and, when you buy things, you pay sales taxes. You need to live someplace. Whether you own a place or rent a place, there are property taxes on that dwelling, and property taxes and sales taxes are major sources of revenue for any kind of municipal government," said Vigdor.
Vigdor说，“你需要买东西。购物时就需要支付销售税。人们需要有地方可住，无论是自有住房还是租一处地方，该住房都要交财产税。而财产税和销售税是市政府的主要收入来源。”

AS/COA hopes the reports will influence other U.S. cities to welcome immigrants in ways that help everyone.
美洲理事会和美洲协会希望该报告能够影响美国其它城市以共赢的方式欢迎移民。