美国发布限制合法移民新规定

美国联邦政府12日发布限制合法移民新规定，提高移民在美长期合法居留经济门槛，凡被发现可能成为“公共负担”的外国公民或被禁止进入美国或调整移民身份。这项规定将于今年10月15日生效。

 

US President Donald Trump’s administration is to make it more difficult for poorer legal migrants to extend their visas or gain permanent resident status (a green card).

美国政府将加大贫困合法移民申请续签签证或获得永久居民身份（绿卡）的难度。

 

The rule targets migrants who rely on public benefits, such as food aid or public housing, for more than a year.

这项规定针对的是那些依赖食品券和公共住房等公共福利生活超过一年的移民。

 

 

 

Their applications will be rejected if the government decides they are likely to rely on public assistance in future.

如果政府认为他们未来可能依赖公共援助，其申请将被拒绝。

 

The rule change would reinforce “ideals of self-sufficiency,” officials said.

有官员表示，这一规则的改变将强化“自给自足的理念”。

 

Anyone who relies on one or more publicly funded social safety net benefits, such as Medicaid or food stamps, is known as a “public charge.”

任何依赖一项或多项公共社会保障福利（如医疗补助计划或食品券）的人都被视为“公共负担”。

 

According to this rule, an immigrant will be designated as a “public charge” if that person “receives one or more designated public benefits for more than 12 months in the aggregate within any 36-month period.”

根据规定，在任意36个月内，“累计领取一项或多项指定公共福利超过12个月”的移民将被视为“公共负担”。

 

The new regulation, known as a “public charge rule”, was published in the Federal Register on Monday and will take effect on October 15.

这项“公共负担”新规于周一（8月12日）发表在《联邦公报》上，将于10月15日生效。

 

Immigrants who are already permanent residents in the US are unlikely to be affected by the rule change.

已经是美国永久居民的移民不太可能受到新规的影响。

 

 

 

Undocumented immigrants would not be affected - unless an avenue opens up for them to apply for green cards or visas since they are largely ineligible for public aid.

非法移民不会受到影响，除非他们有机会申请绿卡或签证，因为他们大部分没有资格获得公共援助。

 

It also does not apply to refugees and asylum applicants.

这项新规也不适用于难民和庇护申请人。

 

But applicants for visa extensions, green cards or US citizenship will be subject to the change.

但申请续签签证、绿卡或美国公民身份的人将受此影响。

 

Those who do not meet income standards or who are deemed likely to rely on benefits such as Medicaid (government-run healthcare) or housing vouchers in future may be blocked from entering the country.

那些收入不达标或被认为未来可能依赖医疗补助计划（政府医疗保健）或住房券等福利的人可能被禁止入境。

 

Those already in the US could also have their applications rejected.

已经身在美国的人，申请也可能会被拒绝。

 

An estimated 22 million legal residents in the US are without citizenship, and many of these are likely to be affected.

据估计，美国约有2200万合法居民没有公民身份，其中许多人可能会受到影响。

 

Civil rights groups have said the move unfairly targets low-income immigrants. The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has said it will sue the Trump administration to stop the regulation from taking effect.

民权组织表示，此举专门针对低收入移民，有失公允。美国国家移民法律中心表示，将起诉特朗普政府，以阻止该规定生效。

 

But the White House said the current system favors immigrants with family ties rather than those who “are self-sufficient and do not strain our public resources”.

但白宫方面表示，目前的移民体系更青睐在美国有家庭关系的移民，而不是那些“自给自足、不会造成公共资源紧张”的移民。

 

 

 

President Trump has made immigration a central theme of his administration. This latest move is part of his government’s efforts to curb legal immigration.

特朗普总统将移民问题作为政府的中心议题。这是其减少合法移民数量的最新举措。

 

“To protect benefits for American citizens, immigrants must be financially self-sufficient,” a White House statement read after the rule change was announced.

在新规公布后，白宫发表声明称：“为了保护美国公民的利益，移民必须在经济上自给自足。”

 

It said two-thirds of immigrants entering the US “do so based on family ties rather than on skill or merit”.

声明称，三分之二的移民“基于家庭关系，而不是技能或优势”进入美国。

 

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, announced the regulation at a press conference on Monday.

周一（8月12日），美国公民及移民服务局代理局长肯•库奇内利在新闻发布会上宣布了这一规定。

 

He said finances, education, age, and the level of an applicant’s English-language skills will all be considered in green card applications. “No one factor alone” will decide a case, he added.

他说，经济、教育、年龄和申请者的英语水平都将被视为绿卡申请的考量因素。他补充说，“不会单凭某一个因素”决定一个申请是否通过。

 

“We expect people of any income to stand on their own two feet,” Cuccinelli said on Monday.

他表示：“我们希望所有收入阶层的人们都能够自食其力。”

 

The Trump administration has also cracked down on illegal immigration. Last week, about 680 people were arrested in Mississippi on suspicion of being undocumented migrants.

特朗普政府也对非法移民进行打击。上周，密西西比州约有680人因涉嫌非法移民而被捕。

 

The number of would-be migrants apprehended at the US southern border with Mexico has been rising over the last two years.

过去两年，在美国南部与墨西哥边境被捕的潜在移民人数一直在上升。

 

However, the number of undocumented immigrants in the US is falling, according to recent analysis from the Pew Research Center.

然而，皮尤研究中心最新分析显示，美国的非法移民人数正在下降。

 

In May, President Trump put forward proposals for a new skills-based immigration system, designed to favor younger, better educated, English-speaking workers.

今年5月，特朗普总统提出了一项以技能为基础的新移民体系提案，旨在吸引更年轻、受教育程度更高、会说英语的人移民美国。