经济学人:技术移民 六级与分裂(1)

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　　Skilled Immigration: Six degrees and separation 技术移民：六级与分裂

　　Immigrants are arriving better educated than ever before. 移民受教育水平比以往有所提高

　　Jose Rommel Umano, who is originally from the Philippines, moved to New York last autumn. Jose Rommel Umano 来自菲律宾，他去年秋天搬到了纽约。珍妮·贝塔罗娃说道，这种程度在美国是没有过的。

　　He came on a family-reunification visa and joined his wife, who had been living in America for some time. 他的签证是家庭团聚签证，他的妻子已经在美国生活了一段时间。

　　This is a typical tale: America gives more weight to close family members when considering immigration applications than some other rich countries do. 这是一个典型的故事：当考虑移民申请时，美国比其他发达国家更加重视家庭成员。

　　More surprising is that Mr Rommel Umano arrived with a master's degree from the University of Tokyo and 20 years of experience as an architect in Japan. 令人更加惊讶的是，Rommel Umano 有东京大学的硕士学位和在日本20年的建筑师从业经验。

　　Yet this, it turns out, is typical too. 然而，这也很典型。

　　Nearly half of all immigrants who arrived between 2011 and 2015 were college-educated. 将近一半在2011-2015年来到美国的移民有大学学历。

　　This is a level “unheard of” in America, says Jeanne Batalova, co-author of the paper containing the finding published by the Migration¹ Policy Institute (MPI), a think-tank. 她是智库移民政策机构(MPI)出版的相关论文的其中一个作者。

　　One of Donald Trump's many executive orders instructed the Departments of Labour, Justice and Homeland Security to examine immigration rules. 唐纳德·特朗普众多行政命令中有一条指示，要求劳动部、司法部及国土安全部来审查移民规定。

　　The president, whose hostility² to illegal migrants is well-known, has also said that he would like to change the criteria³ for choosing legal ones,  总统先生对非法移民的敌对态度是世人皆知的，他也说过他希望改变遴选合法移民的标准，

　　pointing to Canada or Australia as models for America to copy. 指明要把加拿大与澳大利亚作为美国模仿的样板。

　　In 1967 Canada became the first country to introduce a points system for immigration;  1967年，加拿大成为第一个把积分系统引入移民政策的国家；

　　Canada and Australia now both give priority to would-be migrants with degrees, work experience and fluent English (and, in Canada, French). 如今加拿大与澳大利亚都把学历、工作经验与英语流利程度（以及在加拿大的法语）作为预备移民的优选项。

　　Some of the president's advisers⁴ think this more hard-headed system is better than America's family-centred approach. 总统先生的一些顾问认为这种冷静务实的系统要优于美国以家庭为中心的方法。

　　The doomed⁵ immigration bill from 2013 that died in the House of Representatives also reflected widespread enthusiasm for a points-based system. 2013年以来的移民法案在众议院被否决，这也反映出人们对积分系统的热情正在扩散。

　　Two things ought to temper this enthusiasm. 有两件事会使这种热情平复。

　　First, Canada and Australia have concluded that pure points systems do not work well. 第一，加拿大与澳大利亚已经总结发现单纯的积分系统并不能有效运行。

　　A surprisingly high share of the people admitted this way ended up unemployed⁶. 有很大比例的获得准许的人最后会处于失业状态。

　　Both countries have since changed their immigration criteria so that applicants⁷ who have job offers in their pockets may jump the queue. 这两个国家都曾改变了各自的移民标准，这样已经拥有工作录用的申请人有优先权。

　　Second, migrants who move to America to join family members have become much better educated. 第二，搬到美国与家庭成员团聚的移民已经拥有更好的教育背景。

　　Of the more than 1m new green-card holders⁸ (or permanent residents) in 2015, the most recent year with numbers available, almost half were immediate⁹ relatives of citizens. 2015年，超过100万的新绿卡持有者（或永久居民）中近一半都是美国公民的直系亲属。

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