評論
打印
Green Card, a Perfect Solution?
綠卡，完美的解決方案？
Seven years ago, when I was visting Germany, I met with an official who explained to me that the country had a perfect solution to its economic problems. Watching the U.S. economy soar during the '90s, the Germans had decided that they, too, needed to go the high-technology route. But how? In the late '90s, the answer seemed obvious: Indians.
七年前我到德國訪問。在那里我遇到了一個官員，他說這個國家已經找到了能夠完美解決經濟問題的方法。回首美國在20世紀90年代的經濟騰飛，德國也走上了構建高新科技為核心的經濟發展道路。但事實如何呢？在90年代后期，效果顯而易見：印度。
After all, Indian entrepreneurs accounted for one of every three Silicon Valley start-ups. So the German government decided that it would lure Indians to Germany just as America does: by offering green cards. Officials created something called the German Green Card and announced that they would issue 20,000 in the first year.
印度人創建了硅谷三分之一的企業。所以德國政府決定走美國的老路，直接給印度人發綠卡讓他們成為經濟發展計劃的主體。政府官員創造了一個叫做“德國綠卡”的東西，并宣布第一年會發放20000張。
Naturally, the Germans expected that tens of thousands more Indians would soon be begging to come, and perhaps the quotas would have to be increased. But the program was a failure. A year later barely half of the 20,000 cards had been issued. After a few extensions, the program was abolished.
自然而然，德國人盼望著數以萬計的印度人涌入德國，或許綠卡的配額也要提高?？墒怯媱澥×?。一年后不到一半的份額發放了出去。再過了一段時間，這個計劃被徹底廢除。
I told the German official at the time that I was sure the initiative woudl fail. It's not that I had any particular expertise in immigration policy, so I understood something about green cards, because I had one (the American version).
我告訴那個德國官員當時我就覺得這個計劃會失敗。這并不是我在移民政策方面是個地道的專家，但我了解綠卡，因為我就有一張美國綠卡。
The German Green Card was misnamed, I argued, because it never, under any circumstances, translated into German citizenship. The U.S. green card, by contrast, is an almost automatic path to becoming American (after five years and a clean record). The official dismissed my objection, saying that there was no way Germany was going to offer these people citizenship. "We need young tech workers," he said. "That's what this program is all about."
我說，德國綠卡是不合理的，因為就形式來說，它根本無法轉換德國公民身份。而美國綠卡在其內涵上來說就像是一個讓你成為美國人的道標（5年守法的留美經歷）。這個德國官員反對了我所提出的異議，表示為大多數移民提供德國公民身份是個門都沒有的事情。“我們需要的是年輕的技術人員”他說“這才是這個項目的目的所在”。
So Germany was asking bright young professionals to leavve their country, culture and families, move thousands of miles away, learn a new languaged and work in a strange land - but without any prospect of ever being part of their new home. Germany was sending a signal, one that was clearly received in India and other countries, and also by Germany's own immigrant community.
因此，德國讓那些既年輕又精明的專家離開他們的國家、文化和家庭，跋涉數萬英里，學一門全新的語言然后在陌生的國度上工作，但卻永遠無法在這塊土地上獲得能夠讓他建一個新家的空間。德國的這個信號正在清晰并不斷地向印度和其他國家，以及那些屬于德國的殖民地區傳遞。
