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A House-Senate Conference Committee has agreed to an immigration reform bill.
眾議院參議院會議委員會對移民改革法案表示認同。
The measure, which had died in the final days of the last two Congrsses,
在上兩輪國會會議的最后幾天，此法案本已被廢，
now looks as though it will become law. NPR's Cokie Roberts reports.
但現(xiàn)在看來卻將立法。NPR記者科基·羅伯特報道。
One of the chief advocates of the immigration bill, New York Democrat Charles Schumer,
移民法案的主要倡導(dǎo)人之一，紐約民主黨參議員查爾斯·舒默，
says that this year immigration became a white hot issue,
說今年移民問題成為了高度熱點問題，
that the forces fighting against the measures finally had a force on the opposite side of equal rate public opinion.
那些移民措施的反對力量，最終在其對立面上看到了公眾輿論的效果，二者勢均力敵。
The opponents of immigration reform have always been many:
反對移民改革的人總是很多：
Hispanics in Congress and in the country have opposed the part of the bill most lawmakers consider key
國會內(nèi)部及外部的拉美裔人士，反對的部分恰是大多數(shù)議員心中的關(guān)鍵
--- punishment for employers who knowingly hire illegals.
——即對明知故犯，雇傭非法移民的雇主予以懲罰。
The measure, passed at a conference today,
此法案今天在會議上獲得通過，
would provide civil penalties and criminal penalties for those who repeatedly hire illegal aliens.
將允許對那些多次雇用非法移民的雇主給予民事及刑事處罰。
Hispanics worry the employer sanctions would cause discrimination against anyone with an accent or Spanish name, whether legal or not.
西班牙裔擔(dān)心對雇主的制裁，會導(dǎo)致人們對操著西班牙口音或起著西班牙名字的人造成歧視，無論其是否合法。
The new bill includes strong anti-discrimination language for employers who do refuse to hire any Hispanics
新法案包含了鮮明的反歧視語言，對于那些的確拒絕雇傭任何一位西班牙裔，
while still allowing someone to hire a citizen before an alien.
但卻允許優(yōu)先雇傭本國人的雇主。
To appease Hispanics and others,
為了安撫西班牙裔和其他人，
the immigration bill includes amnesty for aliens who have been in this country for five years.
該移民法案對在美國生活五年的外國人予以大赦。
Many border state representatives fought against the legalizsation provisions,
許多邊境州份的代表反對該法案的規(guī)定，
saying that millions of people could eventually become citizens and bring their relatives to this country.
說那樣的話，最終可以成為（美國合法）公民的人數(shù)將有數(shù)百萬，還會把他們的親戚帶到這里。
All those people could bankrupt the state's social services,
所有這些人都可能讓州內(nèi)社會服務(wù)陷入癱瘓，
said the representatives, but the idea of deporting all of those people seemed impractial as well as inhumane to most members of Congress.
代表們說，對于大多數(shù)國會議員而言，將他們?nèi)框?qū)逐的想法，似乎很不實際，也不人道。
And aliens who came to this country before 1982 will be able to apple for legalization.
但對于1982年以前抵達美國的外國人將可被認為合法。
The other major controversial area of the immigration bill is the farm worker program.
移民法案的另一個主要爭議點是農(nóng)場工人計劃。
Agricultural interests wanted to be able to bring workers into this country to harvest crops without being subjected to employer sanctions,
農(nóng)業(yè)利益團體希望工人來到這個國家，收割莊稼，而不必受到針對雇主的懲罰，
but the trade unions opposed this section of the bill.
但是工會對此部分表示反對。
Finally, a compromise was reached where up to three hundred and fifty thousand farm workers could come into this contry,
最后，達成了一項妥協(xié)，能入境的農(nóng)場工人最多不超過35萬名，
but their rights would be protected and they would also be able to apple for legalization if they met certain conditions.
但是他們的權(quán)利將得到保護，如果滿足一定條件，他們也能被合法化。
They elements of the final immigration package have been there all along,
最終的移民法案要素一直在那里，
but this year, say the key lawmakers around this legislation,
但今年，這項立法的主要立法者說，
the Congress was ready to act on them.
國會準(zhǔn)備對他們采取行動。
The combination of horror stories about people coming over the borders
關(guān)于非法移民越境的恐怖傳聞以及國會無力采取行動的社論，
and editorials about congressional inability to act made members of Congress decide the time had come to enact immigration reform.
使得國會議員決定，頒布移民改革方案的時候到了。
But supporters of reform warn the end is not here yet.
但改革的支持者警告說，這一切最終還沒完。
The conference report must still pass both houses of Congress,
會議報告還必須通過兩院，
and a Senate filibuster is always a possibility.
而來自參議院的阻撓隨時都有可能發(fā)生。
