IT WAS always meant to have been one of Barack Obama's big priorities. But along with saving the planet from global warming and closing down the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, immigration reform has slithered down the White House's to-do list as health care turned from triumph to liability. With the House of Representatives due to pass into Republican control at the beginning of next year and the Democrats' majority in the Senate due to be slashed at the same time, Mr Obama looks set to end his second year in office without having brought forward a plan for immigration reform, let alone getting one enacted. Even climate-change legislation has fared better than that.

移民改革一直都是奧巴馬優(yōu)先要做的大事之一。但因?yàn)獒t(yī)改從勝利走向了負(fù)擔(dān)，緊隨全球變暖與關(guān)塔那摩戰(zhàn)俘營(yíng)之后，移民改革再次擱淺。中期選舉后共和黨奪回眾議院多數(shù)，民主黨在參議院的席位也減少了，奧巴馬在其任期的第二個(gè)年頭看似也提不出什么移民改革計(jì)劃，更別說(shuō)通過(guò)了。就連最棘手的氣候變化問(wèn)題都比移民改革問(wèn)題進(jìn)展的順利。

This is disappointing. America has at least four separate immigration problems to contend with, and on only one of them is there any progress. The four are the securing of the southern border to cut the number of illegals who cross, often risking their lives in the harsh desert; expanding the number of high-skilled foreigners that America lets in and keeps; finding a way to ensure an adequate supply of unskilled workers, perhaps through a guest-worker programme; and, trickiest of all, figuring out what to do about the 11m or so mostly Hispanic people living without authorisation inside America, many of whom have been there for decades doing jobs that Americans won't do while living in the constant fear of deportation.

這真讓人失望。（就目前來(lái)說(shuō)）美國(guó)至少要解決四個(gè)相互獨(dú)立的移民問(wèn)題，但卻只有一個(gè)稍有進(jìn)展。這四個(gè)問(wèn)題分別是：保障南部邊境安全，減少非法越境人數(shù)；增加高技術(shù)移民的人數(shù)；保障非技術(shù)工人的供給，為此或許會(huì)啟動(dòng)客工計(jì)劃；（然而）最棘手的一個(gè)莫過(guò)于第四個(gè)，為約1100萬(wàn)拉美裔為主的非法移民指明出路，在美國(guó)這些人從事著美國(guó)人自己不愿干的工作長(zhǎng)達(dá)幾十年之久，卻每天活在隨時(shí)可能被驅(qū)逐出境的持續(xù)恐懼之中。

Ideally, all four problems would be settled at once, via a "comprehensive" reform containing something for everyone. Business types would get their hands on more software geniuses and hod-carriers. Law-and-order Republicans would get a tighter border. Democrats and Hispanic groups would be able to do the right thing by the 11m (Hispanics are reliable Democratic voters, and saved the party from an even worse drubbing at the mid-terms). In practice, though, perhaps all that can be done is to tackle the problems piecemeal.

通過(guò)照顧到每一個(gè)人的綜合移民改革，一次性解決這四個(gè)問(wèn)題再好不不過(guò)了。如此，各行各業(yè)都能雇到從工廠小工到軟件精英他們想要的各種員工。宣揚(yáng)法治的共和黨則會(huì)有一個(gè)更安全的邊境。而民主黨人和拉美裔集團(tuán)也算對(duì)得起這1100萬(wàn)的移民了。要知道，拉美裔移民是民主黨可靠的朋友，曾在中期選舉中救民主黨于危難。然而回到現(xiàn)實(shí)中來(lái)，問(wèn)題卻只能各個(gè)擊破。

On the border issue, there has been some success: more border guards, smarter technology, tougher requirements on employers to verify the legality of their workforce plus (unfortunately) the recession have halved the numbers caught crossing over the past five years. An increase in the number of visas available for the well-qualified could sail through the more-Republican Congress if submitted next year. A guest-worker programme is harder, but also less urgent in straitened times. Yet on the plight of the 11m, there has been no progress whatsoever. Republicans have in the past branded any attempt to regularise their position as "amnesty", an ugly word that killed the last attempt at reform in 2007.

邊境問(wèn)題的確取得了一些成就：五年來(lái)，由于邊防人力的增加，應(yīng)用更智能的技術(shù)、更嚴(yán)格的雇工審查，加上經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退（很不幸）使非法越境的人數(shù)減了一半。增加合法申請(qǐng)簽證數(shù)量一事明年一旦提交，在今日共和黨日益主導(dǎo)的國(guó)會(huì)通過(guò)沒(méi)什么問(wèn)題。然而，就目前的經(jīng)濟(jì)情況來(lái)說(shuō)，比起前幾年，客工計(jì)劃通過(guò)的可能性小了，就連緊迫性也不如從前了。但無(wú)論如何，面對(duì)目前1100萬(wàn)非法移民的困境，兩黨均無(wú)所作為。過(guò)去，共和黨人把任何試圖將非法移民合法化的行為定性為“特赦”，而正是“特赦”使07年最后一次改革嘗試夭折了。

Man up
拿出點(diǎn)勇氣來(lái)！

Even a little bravery on this subject would be welcome. And a suitable, if small, proposal does exist, in the shape of the DREAM Act, which a bipartisan group of humane and sensible senators have been trying to get passed for a decade. It provides for young illegals to earn their citizenship by either service in the armed forces (they can sometimes do this already, but it is tricky), or by spending at least two years in higher education, both coupled with an extended period of blameless law-abiding. It is a testament to just how nasty the immigration debate has become that a measure that would bring the fearful out of the shadows, encourage tertiary education in a section of the workforce that needs more of it and supply the undermanned army with recruits has gone nowhere. House Democrats still have the votes to push the bill through their chamber before the outgoing Congress retires at the end of the year, and then dare the Republicans to block it in the Senate. If only they have the courage to say gracias.

哪怕就移民問(wèn)題有一個(gè)小小的勇敢舉動(dòng)都會(huì)受到歡迎。兩黨中仁愛(ài)與開(kāi)明的參議員們10年來(lái)一直致力于這么一個(gè)“夢(mèng)想法令”，盡管有些小。該法令為年輕的非法移民提供了爭(zhēng)取公民身份的機(jī)會(huì)，只要他們服兵役（已經(jīng)有人這么做了，但對(duì)多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)繁操作起來(lái)并不容易）或著上兩年大學(xué)，但都要求在延長(zhǎng)期里無(wú)違法記錄。這項(xiàng)措施能將提心吊膽的非法移民從黑暗中解救出來(lái)，能鼓勵(lì)他們上大學(xué)，還能為人員不足的部隊(duì)補(bǔ)充新兵，然而卻遲遲不能落實(shí)，這恰恰證明了今天就移民問(wèn)題的政治辯論是多么的扯淡。眾議院民主黨在年末離任國(guó)會(huì)之前仍然有有機(jī)會(huì)通過(guò)該項(xiàng)法案，接著共和黨人會(huì)在參議院阻止。只要他們還有臉說(shuō)一聲謝謝。

注釋：1. Guantánamo Bay ：關(guān)塔那摩監(jiān)獄
2. verify：vt. 核實(shí)；查證
[ 過(guò)去式verified 過(guò)去分詞verified 現(xiàn)在分詞verifying ]
examine and verify 審核；審計(jì)
例句:
(1). He tried in every way to verify this theory.
他想一切辦法來(lái)驗(yàn)證這個(gè)理論。
(2). Please verify each item you have pricked down.
請(qǐng)把你已用小記號(hào)標(biāo)出的每一個(gè)項(xiàng)目核對(duì)一下。

3. law-abiding adj. 守法的
(1).The rule of law has kept our society open, fair and law abiding.
法治制度使我們的社會(huì)開(kāi)放公平，市民奉公守法。
(2). At the same time, working gives them a sense of social responsibility and law abiding spirit in addition to improving self-discipline.
同時(shí)在勞動(dòng)中可以培養(yǎng)其社會(huì)責(zé)任感和遵紀(jì)守法的精神。