President Barack Obama has announced major changes to the United States government's immigration policies. The changes will affect millions of people who entered the country without permission. The president took the action through an official declaration, known as an "executive order."
奥巴马总统宣布对美国政府移民政策进行重大改革。这些改革将影响到数百万未经允许进入美国的人员。奥巴马总统通过一项被称之为“行政命令”的官方声明采取了这一行动。

Mr. Obama spoke to the American people Thursday night. He said the U.S. immigration system is not working.
奥巴马先生周四晚上对美国人民发表了讲话。他说，美国的移民体系并不管用。

"It's been this way for decades. And for decades, we haven't done much about it."
“这样的状况已经持续了几十年，而且几十年来我们一直没做什么。”

奥巴马为移民改革辩护

The president said his order will help immigrants to, in his words, "come out of the shadows." It temporarily protects some illegal immigrants from being expelled from the country, a process called "deportation." It also gives them permission to work. But they must have been in the United States at least five years and have no criminal record. And they must have at least one U.S.-born child.
奥巴马总统表示，他发布的行政命令将帮助移民，用他的话来说，“走出阴影。”它暂时保护了一些非法移民免于被驱逐出境，还给了他们工作许可。但是他们必须已经在美国生活至少五年，并且没有犯罪记录。同时他们必须至少有一个在美国生下的孩子。

"It does not apply to anyone who might come to America illegally in the future. It does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive."
“这项行政命令并不适用那些未来可能非法进入美国的人员。它不会授予公民身份或永久居留权，也不会提供与公民同样的福利。”

U.S. immigration officials will spend less time removing people and their families who entered the country without permission.
美国移民官员将把更少时间花在驱逐未经许可进入美国的人员和家庭上。

They will instead increase efforts against terrorists, criminals and people who only recently entered the United States illegally.
相反，他们将加大力度打击恐怖分子、罪犯以及最近才进入美国的非法移民。

The Obama administration says the executive order increases "the chances that anyone attempting to cross the border illegally will be caught and sent back."
奥巴马政府表示，这一行政命令提高了任何试图非法越境人员被抓获并遣返的几率。

The order expands a program for young people who had come to the United States as children and had spent at least five years in the U.S. It protects foreign citizens from being returned home for three years if they entered the U.S. before 2010 and are attending school.
该命令扩大了一项针对年幼时到美国并在美国呆了至少五年的人员的方案。如果外国公民在2010年前进入美国并正在学校就读，他们三年内就能免于遣返回国。

"Are we a nation that educates the world's best and brightest in our universities, only to send them home to create businesses in countries that compete against us? Or are we a nation that encourages them to stay and create jobs here?"
“我们国家是让我们的大学教育世界最好、最聪明学生，然后把他们遣送回国、在与我们竞争的国家创业呢？还是鼓励他们留下来在美国创造就业机会呢？”

U.S. officials estimate there are more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. The president's plan will affect about five million of them.
美国官员估计美国有超过1100万非法移民。奥巴马总统的计划将影响到其中500万人。

The changes announced Thursday night will not take effect until early next year. An administration official said it is not possible to make an announcement and put the policy into effect the next day.
周四晚上宣布的移民改革要到明年年初才生效。一位政府官员表示，该政策不可能宣布后第二天就生效。

Political observers expect opposition to the changes. Some critics say the president does not have the power under the Constitution to make major immigration policy changes using an executive order. The president said he does.
政治观察人士预计这项改革会遇到反对。有评论说，根据宪法，奥巴马总统无权使用行政命令对移民政策做出重大改革。奥巴马总统说他有权这样做。

"The actions I'm taking are not only lawful, they're the kinds of actions taken by every single Republican president and every single Democratic president for the past half century. And to those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill."
“我采取的做法不仅合法，也是过去半个世纪每位共和党总统和每位民主党总统所采取的做法。对质疑我是否有权改善移民体系，质疑在国会已经失败的这一做法是否明智的那些国会成员，我要说的只有一句：通过法案。”

I'm Christopher Cruise.
我是克里斯托弗·克鲁斯（Christopher Cruise）。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)

President Barack Obama has announced major changes to the United States government's immigration policies. The changes will affect millions of people who entered the country without permission. The president took the action through an official declaration, known as an "executive order."

Mr. Obama spoke to the American people Thursday night. He said the U.S. immigration system is not working.

"It's been this way for decades. And for decades, we haven't done much about it."

The president said his order will help immigrants to, in his words, "come out of the shadows." It temporarily protects some illegal immigrants from being expelled from the country, a process called "deportation." It also gives them permission to work. But they must have been in the United States at least five years and have no criminal record. And they must have at least one U.S.-born child.

"It does not apply to anyone who might come to America illegally in the future. It does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive."

U.S. immigration officials will spend less time removing people and their families who entered the country without permission.

They will instead increase efforts against terrorists, criminals and people who only recently entered the United States illegally.

The Obama administration says the executive order increases "the chances that anyone attempting to cross the border illegally will be caught and sent back."

The order expands a program for young people who had come to the United States as children and had spent at least five years in the U.S. It protects foreign citizens from being returned home for three years if they entered the U.S. before 2010 and are attending school.

"Are we a nation that educates the world's best and brightest in our universities, only to send them home to create businesses in countries that compete against us? Or are we a nation that encourages them to stay and create jobs here?"

U.S. officials estimate there are more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. The president's plan will affect about five million of them.

The changes announced Thursday night will not take effect until early next year. An administration official said it is not possible to make an announcement and put the policy into effect the next day.

Political observers expect opposition to the changes. Some critics say the president does not have the power under the Constitution to make major immigration policy changes using an executive order. The president said he does.

"The actions I'm taking are not only lawful, they're the kinds of actions taken by every single Republican president and every single Democratic president for the past half century. And to those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill."

I'm Christopher Cruise.

VOA correspondent Carolyn Presutti reported this story from the White House. Christopher Cruise wrote the story for VOA Learning English. The editor was George Grow.

_

Words in This Story

immigration – n. to come to a country to live there

permission – n. the right or ability to do something that is given by someone who has the power to decide if it will be allowed or permitted

executive order – n. an order that comes from the U.S. president or a government agency and must be obeyed like a law

shadows – n. an area of darkness created when a source of light is blocked; often used figuratively

illegal immigrant – n. a person who comes to a country without permission

deport – v. to force (a person who is not a citizen) to leave a country

authority – n. the power to give orders or make decisions; the power or right to direct or control someone or something

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