VOA慢速英语2017 美国的非洲移民数量不断上升

 

The United States remains¹ a popular destination for immigrants from Africa, according to the U.S.-based Pew Research Center.

根据美国皮尤研究中心的统计，美国仍然是最多非洲移民前往的目的地。

The number of African immigrants coming to the U.S. has more than doubled since 2000, Pew said in a new report.

皮尤在一份新报告中说，美国的非洲移民人数自2000年以来增加了一倍多。

The organization said that as of 2015, 2.1 million African-born people were living in the United States. That number is up from 880,000 in 2000. Back in 1970, there were just 80,000.

该组织说，截至2015年，有210万在非洲出生的人居住在美国，相比于2000年的88万人有很大的上升。而1970年时该人数只有8万。

Monica Anderson is a research associate at Pew and the author of the study. She said one reason for the large increase is that many immigrants are refugees from Africa.

莫妮卡安德森是皮尤的研究员和这项研究的发起者。她说，人数大量增加的一个原因是许多移民是来自非洲的难民。

She noted² that in 1980, only 1 percent of refugees admitted to the United States were from Africa. Today, that share is about 37 percent.

她指出，1980年只有1％的非洲难民被允许入境美国。今天，这个比例约达37％。

“That is one major factor that is driving the growth of African immigrants, but it doesn't tell the entire story," Anderson told VOA in an interview.

“这是推动非洲移民增长的一个主要因素，但它并不是全部，”安德森在接受美国之音采访时说。

She said that over the years, certain U.S. areas have developed large, established populations for African immigrants.

她说，多年来在美国某些特定的地区，非洲移民已经建立庞大的人口群。

One of those is the Midwestern state of Minnesota. The state is home to about 25,000 people of Somali origin. This is about one-fifth of the whole foreign-born population of the state.

其中一个地区是中西部的明尼苏达州。这个州是索马里人约25000人的家园。人数大约是该州中在外国出生人口的五分之一。

“In different clusters in the U.S., African immigrants are really reshaping the immigrant population there,” Anderson said.

“在美国不同的集群中，非洲移民真的在重塑这里的移民人口结构，”安德森说。

Another example is the neighboring state of South Dakota, which has large refugee communities from Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia. Overall, Africans make up about 15 percent of South Dakota's foreign-born population, according to Pew.

另一个例子是邻近的南达科他州，它有来自苏丹、索马里和埃塞俄比亚的大量难民社区。总体而言，Pew的数据表明非洲人占南达科他州外国出生人口的15％。

The top states where African immigrants live are Texas, New York, California and Maryland.

最多非洲移民居住在德克萨斯州、纽约州、加利福尼亚州和马里兰州。

African immigrants in the U.S. include tens of thousands of refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Eritrea, Pew said. But it also includes highly-educated doctors, engineers and others seeking a better life in America.

皮尤说，在美国的非洲移民包括来自索马里、苏丹、刚果民主共和国和厄立特里亚的成千上万的难民。但其中也包括受过高等教育的医生、工程师和到美国寻求更好的生活的人。

Randy Capps is the director of research for U.S. programs at the Migration³ Policy Institute. He said that as of 2013, 38 percent of sub-Saharan African immigrants had a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 28 percent of all U.S. immigrants.

兰迪·卡斯是美国移民政策研究所的研究主任。他说，截至2013年，38％的撒哈拉以南非洲移民拥有学士学位或更高的学历。相比之下，所有美国移民中有这样学历的人数比例只有28％。

But despite the increases, Africans still make up a relatively⁴ small amount of the total U.S. immigrant population. Capps said there are both historical and geographic⁵ reasons for this.

但是，尽管非洲人数在增加，非洲人占美国移民总人口比重仍然相对较小。卡斯说，这里面夹杂着历史和地理因素。

“It's a long distance from Africa, and the number of people in Africa with sufficient incomes to migrate that far has been relatively small,” he said.

“这离非洲很远，有足够收入移民的非洲人数相对较少，”他说。

He added that the path for legal African migration to the U.S. was not fully⁶ opened until the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.

他补充说，在1965年《移民和国籍法》出台之前，移民到美国的合法道路并没有完全开放。

The act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, removed immigration quota⁷ systems based on national identity. This allowed for immigrants of all nationalities to be accepted equally. The act also made it easier for skilled immigrants to migrate to the United States.

该法案由林登·约翰逊总统签署为法律，根据国家身份取消了移民配额制度。这使得所有民族的移民得到平等的对待。这一行为也使人才移民更容易迁移到美国。

Words in This Story

factor – n. something that affects a particular situation, event, etc.

cluster – n. group of things or people that are close to each other

quota – n. official limit on the amount of people allowed

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 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。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。