How guest worker visas could transform the US immigration system | David J. Bier

翻译人员: Yangxue Zeng 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

By October 2018,

到 2018 年 10 月，

Juan Carlos Rivera could no longer afford

胡安 · 卡洛斯 · 里维拉 （Juan Carlos Rivera）就再也无法

to live in his home in Copan, Honduras.

继续住在他位于 洪都拉斯科潘的家了。

As the "Dallas Morning News" reported,

据《达拉斯晨报》报道，

a gang was taking 10 percent of his earnings from his barber shop.

一个帮派会跟他索要 他理发店 10% 的营业额，

His wife was assaulted going to her pre-K teaching job.

他的妻子在去幼儿园上班路上被袭击。

And they were concerned about the safety of their young daughter.

他们非常担心小女儿的安全。

What could they do?

他们能怎么办？

Run away?

逃走？

Seek asylum in another country?

去另一个国家寻求庇护？

They didn't want to do that.

他们不想这么做。

They just wanted to live in their country safely.

他们只想安全地生活在他们的国家。

But their options were limited.

但他们的选择有限。

So that month,

所以，在那个月，

Juan Carlos moved his family to a safer location

胡安 · 卡洛斯把家人 转移到了一个更安全的地方，

while he joined a group of migrants on the long and perilous journey

而他自己则加入了一群移民， 踏上了这漫长而危险的旅程，

从中美洲

from Central America

to a job a family member said was open for him in the United States.

到美国，因为一位亲戚说 那里有工作提供给他。

By now we're all familiar with what awaited them

现在，我们非常清楚在美墨边境，

at the US-Mexico border.

等待着他们的是什么——

The harsher and harsher penalties doled out to those crossing there.

对越境者日趋严格的处罚，

The criminal prosecutions for crossing illegally.

对非法越境的起诉，

The inhumane detention.

非人道的拘留，

And most terribly, separation of families.

以及最糟的，是与家人的分离。

I'm here to tell you that not only is this treatment wrong,

我要告诉大家的是， 如此对待越境者不仅是错的，

it's unnecessary.

也是不必要的。

This belief that the only way to maintain order

认为只有通过以上非人道手段

is with inhumane means

才能维护边境秩序的观点

is inaccurate.

也是不准确的。

And in fact, the opposite is true.

恰恰相反，

Only a humane system will create order at the border.

只有一个人道的体系才能维持边境秩序。

When safe, orderly, legal travel to the United States is available,

当人们得以安全、有序、 合法地抵达美国时，

very few people choose travel that is unsafe,

选择冒险非法越境的人

disorderly or illegal.

将会寥寥无几。

Now, I appreciate the idea

现在我很欣赏这一想法：

that legal immigration could just resolve the border crisis

“合法移民可以解决边境危机”。

might sound a bit fanciful.

可能这听上去有点异想天开。

But here is the good news:

但有个好消息是，

We have done this before.

我们曾经做到了。

I've been working on immigration for years

我曾在卡托研究所（Cato Institute）

at the Cato Institute

从事移民研究数年，

and other think tanks in Washington DC

也曾供职于其他位于华盛顿的智库，

and as the senior policy adviser for a republican member of Congress,

和作为共和党国会议员的政策顾问

negotiating bipartisan immigration reform.

协商两党移民政策。

And I've seen firsthand

关于美国如何

how America has implemented a system of humane order at the border

在美墨边境建立人道的管理系统，

for Mexico.

我曾拿到过第一手资料。

It's called a guest worker program.

这个项目被称作客工专案。

And here's the even better news.

还有更好的消息，

We can replicate this success for Central America.

我们可以把这项成功 用于中美洲问题上。

Of course, some people

当然，有些人

仍需要在边境寻找庇护所。

will still need to seek asylum at the border.

But to understand how successful

但请想一想这一专案将如何

this could be for immigrants like Juan Carlos,

使得像胡安 · 卡洛斯这样的移民受益；

understand that until recently,

而且最近，

nearly every immigrant arrested by Border Patrol was Mexican.

几乎每一个被边境巡逻队 逮捕的移民都是墨西哥人。

In 1986,

1986 年，

each Border Patrol agent arrested 510 Mexicans.

平均每位边境巡逻人员 每年逮捕 510 位墨西哥人，

Well over one per day.

日均逮捕超一人。

By 2019, this number was just eight.

到了 2019 年，这一数字降至 8 人，

That's one every 43 days.

意味着平均 43 天才一人。

It is a 98 percent reduction.

减少了 98% 。

So where have all the Mexicans gone?

那么这些墨西哥人去了哪里呢？

The most significant change

最重大的变化在于，

is that the US began issuing

美国向墨西哥人

hundreds of thousands of guest worker visas to Mexicans,

发放了数十万的客工签证，

so that they can come legally.

让他们得以合法地来到这个国家。

José Vásquez Cabrera was among the first Mexican guest workers

何塞·巴斯克斯·卡布雷拉 （José Vásquez Cabrera）

是首批获益于 签证开放政策的墨西哥客工。

to take advantage of this visa expansion.

He told "The New York Times" that before his visa

他告诉《纽约时报》， 在获得他的签证前，

he'd made terrifying illegal border crossings,

他尝试过可怕的非法越境方式——

braving near deadly heat and the treachery of the landscape.

勇敢地面对致命的高温， 与险象环生的沿途环境。

One time, a snake killed a member of his group.

曾有一次，他的团里有人被蛇咬死。

Thousands of other Mexicans also didn't make it,

成千上万的墨西哥人没能成功越境，

dying of dehydration in the deserts or drowning in the Rio Grande.

最终在沙漠中脱水而死 或葬身于格兰德河。

Millions more were chased down and arrested.

数百万人被追捕。

Guest worker visas have nearly ended this inhumane chaos.

客工签证的签发几乎终止了 这些非人道主义混乱。

As Vásquez Cabrera put it,

正如巴斯克斯 · 卡布雷拉 （Vásquez Cabrera）所言，

"I no longer have to risk my life

“我不再需要冒着生命危险

to support my family.

来养活我的家庭，

And when I'm here, I don't have to live in hiding."

而当我抵达了美国后， 我不再需要东躲西藏地生活。”

Guest worker visas actually reduced the number of illegal crossings

客工签证减少的非法越境数量，

more than the number of visas issued.

甚至高于签证实际签发的数量。

Jose Bacilio, another Mexican guest worker, explained why

另一位墨西哥客工， 何塞·巴西里奥（Jose Bacilio）

to the "Washington Post" in April.

在 4 月向《华盛顿邮报》解释了原因。

He said, even though he hadn't received a visa this year,

他说道，即使他今年未能获得签证，

he wouldn't risk all of his future chances

他也不会为了非法越境而

by crossing illegally.

赌上他的未来。

This likely helps explain why

这或多或少能解释为何

from 1996 to 2019

从 1996 年到 2019 年，

for every guest worker admitted legally from Mexico,

每当有一位客工从墨西哥合法入境，

there was a decline in two arrests of Mexicans crossing illegally.

因非法入境而遭逮捕的 墨西哥人就会减少两名。

Now, it's true,

的确，

Mexican guest workers do some really tough jobs.

墨西哥客工们做着非常辛苦的工作，

Picking fruit, cleaning crabs,

采摘水果，清洗螃蟹，

landscaping in a 100-degree heat.

在 38 摄氏度的高温下做园艺工作。

And some critics maintain that guest worker visas

有些批评的声音认为

are not actually humane

客工签证并不人道，

and that the workers are just abused slaves.

那些客工就是被虐待的奴隶。

But Vásquez Cabrera thought a guest worker visa was liberating.

但巴斯克斯 · 卡布雷拉认为 客工签证是一种解放，

Not enslavement.

无关奴役。

And he, like nearly all other guest workers,

正如其他客工，巴斯克斯 · 卡布雷拉

chose the legal path over the illegal one, repeatedly.

也坚持选择以合法的方式入境。

The expansion of guest worker visas to Mexicans

给予墨西哥人更多的客工签证

has been among the most significant humane changes

是美国移民政策有史以来

in US immigration policy ever.

最重大的人道主义转变。

And that humane change

这一人道主义转变，

imposed order on chaos.

为混乱的边境带来了秩序。

So where does this leave Central Americans,

那么，这一举措对于像 胡安 · 卡洛斯一样的中美洲人

like Juan Carlos?

又意味着什么呢？

Well, Central Americans received

在 2019 年，只有

just three percent of the guest worker visas issued in 2019,

3% 的客工签证发给了中美洲人，

even as their share of border arrests has risen to 74 percent.

但在边境被捕的人当中， 中美洲人数已经上升到了 74% 。

The US issued just one guest worker visa to a Central American

在 2019 年，每 78 名 中美洲非法越境者中，

for every 78 who crossed the border illegally in 2019.

才有一名中美洲人 得到合法客工签证。

So if they can't get their papers at home,

如果他们无法通过 合法渠道获得入境许可，

many take their chances,

很多人就会开始冒险——

coming up through Mexico to claim asylum at the border

到墨西哥边境处申请庇护，

or cross illegally,

或直接非法越境，

even if, like Juan Carlos, they prefer to come to work.

即使像胡安·卡洛斯这样的人们 更倾向于到美国工作。

The US can do better.

美国有能力改善这一情况。

It needs to create new guest worker visas

这需要美国特别为中美洲国家

specifically for Central Americans.

签发客工签证。

This would create an incentive for US businesses

这将成为美国市场雇佣

to seek out and hire Central Americans,

中美洲人的一大激励因素——

paying for their flights to the United States,

报销中美洲人的旅费、

and diverting them from the illegal, dangerous trek north.

将他们从违法而危险的 北上旅程中拯救。

Central Americans could build flourishing lives at home,

中美洲人可以在国内过上富足的生活，

without the need to seek asylum at the border

而不用再在边境处需求庇护所

or cross illegally,

或非法越境，

freeing up an overwhelmed system.

这将解放被压垮的 边境移民管理系统。

Some people might say

有些人可能会说，

that letting the workers go back and forth

允许工人们来回奔波，

will never work in Central America

并不会真正帮到

where violence is so high.

暴力肆虐的中美洲。

But again, it worked in Mexico,

但是这个方法在墨西哥奏效了，

even as Mexico's murder rate more than tripled over the last decade,

即使墨西哥的谋杀率 在过去十年间增长了至少两倍，

to a level higher than much of Central America.

高于中美洲大部分国家。

And it would work for Juan Carlos,

这将会对胡安 · 卡洛斯奏效，

who said, despite the threats

因为他说，即使危机重重，

he only wants to live in the United States temporarily,

他只想暂时在美国生活，

to make enough money

以赚取足够的钱财，

to sustain his family in their new home.

能让他的家庭继续住在新家。

He even suggested that a guest worker program

他甚至认为，客工专案

would be one of the best things to help Hondurans like him.

是对他这样的洪都拉斯人而言 最好的援助项目之一。

Cintia, a 29-year-old single mother of three from Honduras,

一位 29 岁，抚养三个孩子的 洪都拉斯单身母亲辛提雅 （Cintia），

seems to agree.

似乎也同意这一点。

She told the "Wall Street Journal" that she came for a job

她告诉《华尔街日报》， 她为了抚养孩子们和照顾她的母亲

to support her kids and her mom.

才来到美国。

Surveys of Central Americans traveling through Mexico,

由墨西哥北方边境大学

by the College of the Northern Border in Mexico,

对穿越墨西哥的中美洲人 所做的一项调查，

confirm that Juan and Cintia are the norm.

证实了大多数中美洲人 像胡安和辛提雅一样。

Most, not all, but most do come for jobs,

大多数中美洲人为了工作来到美国，

even if, like the Riveras,

即使很多人可能像胡安一样，

they may also face some real threats at home.

在本国也面临着巨大的生存威胁。

How much would a low-wage job help

一份低薪水的工作，又如何 能帮到像胡安和辛提雅

a Honduran, like Juan or Cintia?

这样的洪都拉斯人呢？

Hondurans like them make as much

像他们一样的洪都拉斯人

in one month in the United States

在美国一个月的工资

as they do in an entire year working in Honduras.

可以抵得上他们在 洪都拉斯工作一年的收入。

A few years' work in the United States

而在美国工作几年的工资

can propel a Central American into its upper middle class

可使一位中美洲人 跃升到社会中上阶层，

where safety is easier to come by.

同时使生活更安全。

What Central Americans lack is not the desire to work.

中美洲人现在不缺少对工作的渴求，

Not the desire to contribute to the US economy,

不缺少为美国经济、

to contribute to the lives of Americans.

美国人民做出贡献的渴望。

What Central Americans lack is a legal alternative to asylum.

他们缺少的是一个 边境避难所的合法替代方案——

To be able to do so legally.

合法在美国工作的许可。

Of course, a new guest worker program

当然，一个新的客工专案

will not resolve 100 percent of this complex phenomenon.

无法解决全部的移民问题。

Many asylum seekers will still need to seek safety

或许很多寻找庇护的人

at the US border.

仍然会在美国边境寻求安置。

But with the flows reduced,

但当趋势减缓，

we can more easily work out ways to deal with them humanely.

我们更容易想办法 以人道的方式来帮助他们。

But ultimately,

但最终，

no single policy has proven to do more

没有任何一项政策被证明

to create an immigration system that is both humane

比让工人合法入境更有助于

and orderly

建立一个

than to let the workers come legally.

既人道又有序的移民体系。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）