经济学人355:移民政治学(1)

 　　IT MAY have taken the Supreme¹ Court just an hour to wrap up its discussion of illegal immigration this week, but America’s politicians, it seems, cannot get enough of the subject. It will be several months before the court rules on the case in question, which concerns a state law in Arizona, but Democratic leaders in the Senate are already planning a vote to overturn its decision if the law is upheld. That vote would presumably fail, thanks to Republican opposition², but it would allow the Democrats³ to keep the subject in the news. Democrats are also attacking Mitt⁴ Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee⁵ for president, for supporting the law. Mr Romney, meanwhile, has dismissed the whole fuss as an effort to distract Hispanic voters from Mr Obama’s failings as steward⁶ of the economy. The outcome of the presidential race, both sides acknowledge, could conceivably hinge on whether it is the state of the economy or laws like Arizona’s that stir more indignation among Hispanics.

　　最高法院本周对于非法移民的讨论也许只持续了一个小时，但是美国的政客们看上去从未停止在非法移民这个问题上大做文章. 最高法院裁决这个涉及到亚利桑那州州法律的案子还将花上几个月,但是参议院中民主党的领袖已经在计划,一旦最高法院判亚利桑那州州法律有效,就发动一场投票来推翻这一决议.由于参议院中共和党的反对,这一投票多半会失败,但民主党却能把这一话题保留在公众视野中.民主党也批评米特·罗姆尼,因为这位预定的共和党总统竞选人支持这一法律.同时,罗姆尼认为这整场闹剧只不过是民主党人想借此来分散西班牙裔选民的注意力,让他们忽视奥巴马总统作为经济守门人的失职. 民主共和两党都承认,经济状态和激起西班牙裔美国人愤慨的亚利桑那州法律,都可能影响总统大选的结果.

　　Arizona’s bill, passed in 2010, seeks to discourage illegal immigration by making it a crime under state as well as federal law and by instructing state authorities to be on the lookout⁷ for illegal immigrants. Civil-liberties groups worry that this will lead to harassment⁸ of anyone with brown skin, even though the law expressly prohibits such “profiling”. There is no easy way for the authorities to judge an individual’s immigration status, argue opponents, so many citizens will be subjected to unwarranted checks.

　　亚利桑那州这一法案于2010年通过,旨在让州法律和联邦法律把非法移民认定为犯罪行为,并引导州政府密切搜寻非法移民者,以此来打击非法移民活动.公民自由组织担忧这将给那些古铜色肤色的人带来困扰,尽管法案中明令禁止"按肤色下定论". 反对者称,官方鉴定个人的移民身份从来就不是一件容易的事,所以许多美国公民被迫接受未经批准的检查.

　　That prospect⁹ seemed to concern several justices during the oral arguments on the law before the Supreme Court. Stephen Breyer, for example, fretted¹⁰ about the possible fate under the law of a jogger carrying only a driver’s licence from New Mexico, a state that borders Arizona and used to issue licences to illegal immigrants. But the solicitor-general said he was not challenging the law on the grounds that it would discriminate¹¹ against Latinos. Instead he argued that the law pre-empts the federal government’s power to set immigration policy. Its defenders¹² retort that it aims only to help the federal government fulfil its obligations on immigration, and that only an administration that was deliberately¹³ neglecting them could find fault with it.

　　这件事的可能性,令几位法官对庭上的案子有所忧虑,他们有过几番辩论.比如,根据这项法律,史蒂芬·拜耳就担心某位从新墨西哥州过来,身上只带驾照的慢跑者的命运,因为新墨西哥州毗邻亚利桑那州,而且曾经给非法移民发放过驾照.但是副检察长则说道,他反对这项法律并不是基于该法律会歧视拉美裔美国人这一点。相对的他说这项法律夺取了联邦政府制定移民政策的权力.它的辩护者们则反驳,这项法律只是为了帮助联邦政府履行制定移民政策的义务,并且只有故意忽视他们的政府才会发现这项法律有问题.

　　The Supreme Court’s verdict will determine the fate not just of Arizona’s law, but of similar measures in five other states. As successive presidents have promised but failed to tackle the question of America’s 10m-odd illegal immigrants, frustration¹⁴ at the federal government’s inertia¹⁵ has grown, especially among conservative voters. Republican-controlled legislatures in several states have attempted to take matters into their own hands. The need for a crackdown on illegal immigration seems to have become an article of faith among Republican primary voters. The presidential bid of Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, came to grief partly because he had signed a law allowing certain undocumented students to pay the same rates as other state residents at public universities.

　　最高法院的判决不仅将决定亚利桑那州这一法律的命运,还将影响其他五个州采取的类似措施的命运.接连几任总统都承诺解决这一困扰美国超过1000万非法移民的问题,但都失败了,因此人们对政府惰性的失望情绪日渐增长,特别是在保守派的选民中.共和党掌握的几个州的立法机关已经试着处理这件事情.取缔非法移民很有必要,这似乎在共和党初选选民中成了一种信条.里克·佩里这位德克萨斯州州长的总统竞选之路最终失败,或许有一部分原因是因为他曾经签署了一项法律,这项法律允许某些没有正式身份的学生和本州学生用一样的比例支付公立大学的学费.

　　Even as the debate about illegal immigration has become shriller, the phenomenon itself has declined. The recession has helped to stem the flow of job-seekers across America’s southern border. Despite more vigorous policing, the number of people caught trying to cross has declined markedly. This week the Pew Hispanic Centre, a research institute, released a report arguing that Mexicans, who once accounted for most of the illegal influx¹⁶, are now leaving the country in greater numbers than they are entering it.

　　尽管对非法移民本身的争论日渐激化,这种现象本身却在减少.美国经济衰退,阻止了一大批想跨过美国南方边境来找工作的人.尽管监管越来越严密,被当场抓住试图穿越国境的人的数量却显著下降.本周一家研究机构,皮尤西裔研究中心发布了一份报告,称过去墨西哥人占据了非法移民者中的大多数,而现在他们离开美国的人数比进入美国的还要多.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

6 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

7 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

10 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

11 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

12 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

14 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

15 inertia   

adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝

参考例句：

• We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
• Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。

16 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。