VOA常速英语2014--Study: Immigrants Benefit NYC Economy, Quality of Life 研究表明移民促进纽约经济，提高生活水平（在线收听）

Study: Immigrants Benefit NYC Economy, Quality of Life 研究表明移民促进纽约经济，提高生活水平

NEW YORK — New York has long been a magnet for immigrants looking for a better life. A new independent research study also shows that immigrants help the city thrive as well.

纽约——对于向往美好生活的移民，纽约一直都充满着独特的魅力。一项新的独立调查研究表明，移民也促进了纽约的繁荣。

Immigrants like those at a recent New York rally are an increasingly potent economic force. According to the Mayor’s office, immigrants make up more than 40 percent of the city’s population.

比如目前在纽约生活的移民，就正迅速成为纽约强有力的经济力量。根据市长办公室统计数据，移民占纽约人口的百分比超过40%。

Taken together, those three million people would constitute the third largest city in America, says immigration commissioner Nisha Agarwal.    

美国移民专员妮莎阿加沃表示，如果合计起来，这批数来多达三百万人的移民人口可以构成美国第三大城市。

“So we are an immigrant-rich city, and immigrants are in our schools. They are driving our economy at all levels and in all professions. And we need to support that because it not only benefits the families involved, but it benefits the city as a whole,” said Agarwal.

阿加沃说：“我们纽约是一个移民众多的城市，同时他们也接受美国教育。他们推动纽约经济及各行各业的发展。我们需要保护移民。不仅因为这样做使移民家庭受益，更让整座城市受益。”

Helping neighborhoods

促进社区建设

An independent research report sponsored by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, - or AS/COA - contradicts a common perception that links immigrants with poverty and crime.  

由美洲协会，美洲理事会（AS/COA）出资的独立研究结果驳斥了“移民就是贫穷与犯罪的代名词”的“常识”。

The study examined rising immigration statistics and neighborhood police reports between 1990 and 2010. New York City’s economy and quality of life improved greatly during that period - especially in declining neighborhoods - and the report"s author, Jacob Vigdor, found a link.  

该项目搜集了1990年到2010年间移民增加数据和邻里警局报告。纽约市经济水平和人民生活质量在此期间大幅提高，特别是在不景气的社区。该报告作者雅各布·维克多找到了之间的联系。

“The immigrants go to these neighborhoods because they are the only places they can afford, and they stabilize those neighborhoods. And they reduce vacancy rates. They reduce the state of disrepair, and these are the things that lead to crime dropping,” said Vigdor.

维克多表示：“移民入住这些社区的原因是，那是他们唯一能付得起房租的地方，与此同时，他们的入住使社区氛围更安定。他们降低了住房空置率、房屋失修状况，从而降低犯罪率。”

Immigrants who make the leap of faith to come to America are often less likely to commit crimes and more likely to work hard, said Harvard University social policy professor Robert Thomson. “So why would you come to this country? Well, you want to work. You want to get ahead. You want to raise your family, you want to build, essentially, a community.”   

哈佛大学社会政策教授罗伯特·汤普森表示，下定决心到美国的移民不太可能作奸犯科，并更倾向努力工作。“为什么你来到这个国家？当然，你想来工作，你想获得成功，你想养家糊口，本质上，是想建立一个社区。”

Immigrant entrepreneurship

移民创业

Immigrant entrepreneurship also helps drive the city’s growth. And immigrants often perform the necessary jobs native-born Americans don’t want, said ASCOA policy manager Kate Brick.      

移民创业也帮助推动城市发展。同时，移民常会从事本地美国人并不太愿意承担却又极其必要的城市工作，美洲协会，美洲理事会（AS/COA）政策主管凯特·布里克如是说。

“… Like in the agricultural sector, the manufacturing sector [and] the service industry. It runs the gamut. And at the same time, immigrants coming to the US are extremely diverse," said Brick. "In addition to people who are working in lower paying jobs, you have some of the best minds in the world that are here working in the tech industry, and in engineering, in science, in the medical field.”

“比如在农业、制造业和服务业，它（移民就业）涵盖了各个领域。同时，往美国移民的人种多样性十足。”布里克说道。“除了低薪工作者，世界上许多最优秀的移民人才都在美国高新技术业、工程、科技和医疗领域工作。”

Even undocumented immigrants, who work as street vendors and nannies, help pay their way, said Jacob Vigdor, the author of Immigration and New York City.

《移民与纽约城》的作者雅各布·维克多说，即使是未入籍的移民，通过当街边小贩和保姆，都能努力维持生计。

“You need to buy things, and, when you buy things, you pay sales taxes. You need to live someplace. Whether you own a place or rent a place, there are property taxes on that dwelling, and property taxes and sales taxes are major sources of revenue for any kind of municipal government,” said Vigdor.

维克多表示：“你要买东西，当你购买商品时，你得交消费税。你要找地方住，不管你是买房还是租房，你都得交房产税。而财产税和消费税是市政府收入的主要来源。”

The Americas Society/Council of the Americas is using its study on immigrants and the New York economy to help other U.S. cities to welcome immigrants in ways that will benefit foreign-born and “native-born” alike.

美洲协会，美洲理事会（AS/COA）正积极运用其关于移民和纽约经济的研究结果，来帮助其他美国城市寻求让外地人和“本地人”双赢的方式接纳移民。