VOA慢速英语2020--美国城市增长依赖移民

Jawad Rahimi is a native of Afghanistan. He arrived in the United States 16 years ago after spending time as a refugee in Azerbaijan. Since then, his store in St. Louis, Missouri has become a needed part of the city center.

The area is full of empty homes and buildings. A usual day brings a continuous flow of people who come for alcohol, food or just to talk.

"I think they're addicted¹ to me," he told the Reuters news agency. He said people exchange friendly words with him as they buy their goods in his store.

St. Louis and several other cities in Midwestern states have come to depend on people like Rahimi in urban areas.

Between 2010 and 2018, the population of St. Louis shrank by 10,000 people. If it were not for 15,000 foreigners who arrived to live in the city, the decrease would likely have been greater.

Reuters examined government data for that period. It found that immigration reversed what would have been major population decreases in 18 cities. Among them are Detroit, Michigan; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Akron, Ohio. Many are cities that have depended on manufacturing.

In St. Louis and other places, immigrants are helping² halt population decreases in urban areas. The cities are struggling to maintain their population as people move to areas with higher economic growth.

To officials in St. Louis, this creates a problem. Where do you find the people needed to buy homes, start businesses and keep the population from shrinking?

Betsy Cohen is executive director of the St. Louis Mosaic³ Project. The group aims to make St. Louis's immigrant population the fastest growing in the country. "When those numbers fall, it is hard to have the growth...we want," said Cohen. "Every person counts," she added, "All skill lines. All families. We need people."

The immigration debate nationally often brings attention to issues like border security and separation of families caught entering the country illegally. But cities like St. Louis are looking to immigration as a way to strengthen their economies.

Recently, President Donald Trump⁴ gave state governors the power to reject refugees in their states. Only the state of Texas chose to do so. The order is being disputed in courts, but state leaders of both political parties have said they still welcome refugees.

In a January letter to the State Department, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said the new arrivals would eventually become "patriotic⁵ and productive fellow Americans."

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Buffalo⁶, New York and many other places, mainly in the Northeast and Midwest, have also come to depend on immigrants.

Some economic experts worry about the effects of population loss in some parts of the country.

Last year, economists⁷ Adam Ozimek, Kenan Fikri, and John Lettieri wrote a report for the Economic Innovation Group in Washington D.C. The report found that smaller populations provide less money in taxes to local governments. This, they found, leads to a decrease in public services and property values. So, fewer businesses start and existing ones have fewer reasons to stay.

The group argues that, while some parts of the country are losing people and others are gaining, immigration is controllable. The economists suggest that the United States could expand immigration like Australia and Canada have. They said the U.S. could do so by increasing the number of visas aimed at areas with population problems.

Words in This Story

addicted – adj. having an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something

urban – adj. of or relating to cities and the people who live in them

reverse(d) – v. to change something to an opposite state or condition

maintain – v. to cause something to exist or continue without changing

patriotic – adj. having or showing great love and support for your country

1 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

6 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》