密歇根新闻广播 为什么某些国家的自然灾害导致美国移民增加

 

While the politicians argue about it, the U.S. Department of Defense¹ is trying to prepare for the effects of climate change. The Pentagon sees it as a national security issue. One of the predictions is that there will be massive migration² because of extreme weather events leading to flooding or drought or other disasters.

There's evidence of that sort of trend happening in the aftermath of hurricanes.

Dean Yang, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, co-authored an article for The Conversation titled "Hurricanes Drive Immigration to the U.S." He joined Stateside today to explain his research.

"Immigration rises quite remarkably³ after countries are hit by hurricanes overseas," he said, "but that effect really is isolated⁴ in countries that have large migrant populations in the U.S. already, who can help ease the way for new migrants to come in in response to hurricanes."

While there are several ways former migrants to the U.S. can help family members follow in their footsteps, Yang said there's one way that sticks out in the data.

He said prior migrants, current U.S. citizens and permanent residents, help by applying for green cards for their relatives. That leads to a "big increase" in green card issuances by the U.S. government to people from the country who suffered the natural disaster.

Yang said his research shows how helpful family reunification policies can be.

"In this new political environment we're in, anything can happen and so it's important to understand that these policies really are important in helping⁵ people overseas who might have relatives already in the U.S. cope with disaster by being able to immigrate⁶ to the U.S," he said.

Listen above for the full conversation.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

5 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。

6 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。