研究表明芝加哥移民率下降

AS IT IS 2015-07-08 Study: Chicago 'Immigration' Rate Dropping 研究表明芝加哥移民率下降

Many large American cities need skilled workers from other countries if they are to grow. Chicago, Illinois is the third-largest city in the United States. But it may not stay that way for long. Why?

Its population is not growing at the same rate as other large cities. Experts say one reason for that is a drop in the number of legal immigrants moving to Chicago over the past 10 years.

Pete Tapaskar is the director of human resources at ProSoft, a technology company near Chicago. For the past year, he has had difficulty finding skilled workers for ProSoft. He seeks out workers from other countries and helps them get special permission from U.S. immigration officials to move to Illinois. About 80 percent of the company’s workers are from South Asia. Many of them -- including Mr. Tapaskar himself -- came to Chicago on special work visas, known as “H1Bs.” Such visas are given to foreigners with special skills that employers need and cannot find in American workers.

“There is a high demand for the H1Bs -- high-tech¹ people. That is true.”

Mr. Tapaskar says many people who get special work visas decide not to stay in Chicago, which can be windy and cold. He says many of them choose to work in areas with warmer weather.

He says they are slowly moving towards the South, especially Texas, and Atlanta, and Georgia.

He adds that there are other reasons immigrants choose to live in the southern United States instead of in Chicago.

“The environment there is ideal for starting a business. Could be the taxes will be lower. And employers are getting a lot of benefits from the state government.”

Elizabeth Schuh is a policy analyst² at the Chicago Metropolitan³ Agency for Planning. She has studied the city’s immigrants. She says there has been a large decrease in the number of people moving to Chicago from other countries.

“Prior to the recession⁴, we were between 50- and 60-thousand most years. And now, since 2010, we’ve been at about 23 to 24 thousand international in-migration on a net basis.”

Ms. Schuh says that is one of the reasons Chicago is growing at a slower rate than other large cities like Boston, Los Angeles, and New York.

“From 2005 to 2009, Chicago, the Chicago region was fourth in the country in terms of its rank for just the raw number of international immigrants it attracted. And in the same, the next five years, 2009 to 2014, the Chicago region was eighth. So just adding even all of those years, you are seeing a substantial⁵ drop.”

Words in This Story

trend – n. a general direction of change; a way of behaving or proceeding⁶ that is developing and becoming more common

ideal – adj. exactly right for a purpose, situation or person

benefit – n. help or assistance

analyst – n. a person who studies something

net – adj. after everything is completed or counted

region – n. an area or part of a country

rank – n. a position in a society, organization or group; a rating⁷

raw – adj. not yet organized or changed in any way

attract – v. to cause someone or something to go or move toward something else

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

4 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。

5 substantial   

adj.大的，相当可观的，大体上的

参考例句：

• She is preparing a substantial meal against his return.她正在准备一顿丰盛的饭菜为他接风。
• The country bought a substantial number of weapons.这个国家购买了大量武器。

6 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

7 rating   

n.级别，等级，额定值，责骂，收视率

参考例句：

• It is a ship with a rating of 500,000 tons.这是一艘五十万吨级的船。
• The opinion polls gave the president a high rating.民意测验显示人民对总统的支持率很高。