What we're missing in the debate about immigration | Duarte Geraldino

翻译人员: xiao gu 校对人员: Kevin Fang

So, Ma was trying to explain something to me

母亲试图向我介绍

about Grandma and when they grew up,

关于祖母和她们的过去

but I couldn't pay attention to her

但我没有兴趣

because I was five years old, and I was petrified.

因为我只有5岁，而且吓坏了

I had just seen The Green Lady.

刚看完“绿魔女”

Now, about a week earlier, I'd watched that movie "Godzilla,"

一周前，我看了电影“哥斯拉”

the one about that huge lizard-like beast storming a major city,

巨蜥野兽冲击一个主要城市

and the thought of a green monster coming for me was stuck in my mind.

绿色怪物在我脑中挥之不去

And yet there I was, at the tip of Lower Manhattan with my mom,

而我和母亲住在下曼哈顿一端

just staring at her:

看着她

her horns,

她的犄角

her muscles --

她的肌肉

all of it just frightened me.

所有一切让我害怕

And I didn't know whether she was a monster or a hero.

不知道她是怪兽还是英雄

So I decided to consult the Google of the day --

那天我决定用google来搜索

"Ma! Ma!"

“”妈！妈！

(Laughter)

（笑）

My mother explained that The Green Lady is actually the Statue of Liberty

母亲解释说绿魔女实际上是自由女神像

and that she was waving immigrants in.

正向移民展开怀抱

Now, the part of her explanation that really messed with my young head

她的部分介绍让我迷惑不解

was the fact that, according to Ma,

据母亲说，事实上

long before us,

很久以前

The Green Lady was actually brown,

绿魔女实际上是棕色的

brown like me,

像我一样（棕色）

and that she changed colors over the years,

这些年颜色改变了

much like America.

更像一个美国人

Now, the part that really is intriguing about this

真正让我感兴趣的部分是

is that when she changed colors,

她改变颜色

she made me think about myself.

让我联想到自己

It all made sense to me,

让我豁然开朗

because as a first-generation American,

作为第一代美国移民

I was surrounded by immigrants.

我周围都是移民

In fact, within my immediate social circle of the people who support me,

实际上，在我最亲密社交圈子里面支持我

who enrich my life,

丰富我的人中

at least two are foreign-born.

至少有2个是出生国外

My life as a US citizen is in many ways shaped by newcomers,

我作为美国公民，一直被新来者塑造

and chances are,

改变

so is yours.

你也和我一样的

There are more than 40 million immigrants in the USA.

在美国有4000万移民

According to census data,

据人口统计数据

a quarter of the nation's children have at least one foreign-born parent.

1/4美国儿童，至少有一个父母是海外出生的

I know all these statistics because I study global migration patterns.

我研究全球移民模式，所以我知道这些统计数据

I'm a journalist, and for the last few years,

在去过几年中我是一名记者，

I've been documenting the lives of US citizens

我一直在记录美国公民的生活---

who've lost people to deportation.

那些被驱逐者

And the numbers are enormous.

数字是惊人的

From 2008 to 2016,

从2008到2016年

more than three million people were "ordered removed" --

有超过300万人被“下驱除令”

that's the technical term for being deported.

就是被驱除离境的技术术语

There is an economic, a political, a psychological and an emotional cost

存在经济，政治，心理和情感成本

to those deportations --

对于驱逐而言

the moments when these circles are broken.

在圈子被破坏的时刻

I once asked a US soldier,

我曾经问过一个美国士兵

"Why did you volunteer to fight this war?"

“你为什么自愿参军来打仗？”

And she told me,

她告诉我

"Because I'm proud to defend my country."

“我很自豪保卫我的国家”

But I pressed to know --

我继续采访她---

"Really, when you're on base,

“真的吗？当你在前线，

and you hear bombs exploding in the distance,

你听见炮弹在前方爆炸

and you see soldiers coming back who are gravely injured,

看见下来的士兵严重受伤

in that moment, when you know you could be next,

在那个时刻，你知道自己也许就是下一个

what does 'my country' mean?"

“国家”对你到底意味什么？

She looked at me.

她看着我

"My country is my wife,

“我的国家就是我的妻子，

my family,

家庭

my friends, my soldiers."

朋友，队友。“

What she was telling me

她要告诉我的是，

is that "my country" is a collection of these strong relationships;

“我的国家”是强有力关系的集合；

these social circles.

社交圈

When the social circles are weakened,

当社交圈脆弱时

a country itself is weaker.

国家也就脆弱

We're missing a crucial aspect in the debate about immigration policy.

在讨论移民政策时，我们错过了一个关键方面

Rather than focusing on individuals,

不应该专注于个人

we should focus on the circles around them,

应该专注围绕他们的圈子

because these are the people who are left behind:

因为在他们圈子里的人包括：

the voters, the taxpayers,

投票者，纳税人，

the ones who are suffering that loss.

这些人会很痛苦

And it's not just the children of the deported

不只是被驱除的孩子

who are impacted.

被边境隔离的兄弟姐妹

You have brothers and sisters who are separated by borders.

受到影响

You have classmates, teachers, law enforcement officers,

你的同学，老师，执法人员

technologists, scientists, doctors,

技术员，科学家，医生

who are all scrambling to make sense of new realities

都需要重新接受新的事实

when their social circles are broken.

当他们的社交圈打破后

These are the real lives behind all these statistics

这些是统计背后的真实生活

that dominate discussions about immigration policy.

主导讨论有关移民政策

But we don't often think about them.

我们常常忽略这些

And I'm trying to change that.

现在我要试图改变这一切

Here's just one of the real-life stories that I've collected.

下面是我收集的真实生活中的一个例子

And it still haunts me.

至今困扰我

I met Ramon and his son in 2016,

2016年我遇到Ramon和他的儿子

the same year both of them were being ordered out of the country.

同一年都被要求离境

Ramon was being deported to Latin America,

Ramon被遣返回拉丁美洲

while his son, who was a sergeant in the US military,

他的儿子，美国军队中的一名中士

was being deployed.

正在被部署调配（海外）

Deported ...

一方是驱除离境......

deployed.

另一方是调离出境。

If you just look at Ramon's case,

看看Ramon的案子

it wouldn't be clear how deeply connected to the country he is.

我们不知道他到底和这个国家有多深的联系

But consider his son:

考虑一下他儿子：

a US citizen defending a country that's banished his father.

一个保家卫国的士兵，他的父亲被驱除离境

The social circle is what's key here.

社交圈的关键点在这里

Here's another example that illustrates those critical bonds.

另外一个例子来说明链接的重要性

A group of citizens in Philadelphia were concerned about their jobs,

一群在费城的公民正在担忧他们的工作

because the legal owner of the restaurant where they worked

因为他们工作的餐厅老板

was an undocumented immigrant,

是一个非法移民

and immigration officials had picked him up.

移民局让他离境

They rallied behind him.

他们团结在他身边

An immigration lawyer argued

一名移民律师辩护说

he was too important to the local community

他对当地社区太重要了

to be deported.

不应该被驱除

At the hearing, they even submitted restaurant reviews --

在听证会上，甚至提交了餐厅评价--

restaurant reviews!

餐厅评价---

In the end, a judge exercised what's called "judicial discretion"

最后，法官行驶自由裁量权

and allowed him to stay in the country,

容许他继续留在这个国家

but only because they considered the social circle.

仅仅考虑了社会联系

There are 23 million noncitizens in the USA,

美国有2300万非公民

according to verifiable federal data.

据可靠政府数据

And that doesn't include the undocumented,

这些没有包括非法移民

because numbers for that population are at best complex estimates.

因为这些预计数据十分复杂

Let's just work with what we have.

让我们仅用已有数据

That's 23 million social circles --

2300万人的社交圈

about 100 million individuals

大概有1000万个人

whose lives could be impacted by deportation.

他们的生活受被驱逐者的影响

And the stress of it all is trickling down through the population.

所有压力会向下传递

A 2017 poll by UCLA of LA County residents

加州洛杉矶居民的2017年民意调查

found that 30 percent of citizens in LA County

发现30%的洛杉矶居民

are stressed about deportation,

感受到被驱除者的压力

not because they themselves could be removed,

不仅仅他们自己被驱除

but rather, because members of their social circle were at risk.

而是因为圈子里面其他成员处于（被驱除）危险中

I am not suggesting that no one should ever be deported;

我不是说任何人都不应该被驱除

don't confuse me with that.

不要误解我的意思

But what I am saying is that we need to look at the bigger picture.

我想说，我们应该看得更远

If you are within the sound of my voice,

如果你在聆听我的观点

I want you to close your eyes for a moment

请你闭眼

and examine your own social circle.

考虑自己的社交圈

Who are your foreign-born?

谁是海外出生的？

What would it feel like if the circle were broken?

如果圈子被破坏了，你有什么感觉？

Share your story.

分享你的故事

I'm building a global archive of first-person accounts

我正在建立一个全球第一手资料档案库

and linking them with mapping technology,

用制图技术链接在一起

so that we can see exactly where these circles break,

能发现圈子在哪里断裂

because this is not just an American issue.

这不仅仅存在于美国

There are a quarter-billion migrants around the world;

全球有2.5亿移民

people living, loving and learning in countries where they were not born.

生活，爱，学习在非出生地

And in my career, in my life, I've been one of them:

在我的职业生涯，我的生命中，我也是他们中的一员：

in China, in Africa, in Europe.

在中国，在非洲，在欧洲

And each time I become one of these foreigners --

每次我都是这些国家的外国人

one of these strange-looking guys in a new land --

在新大陆的陌生人

I can't help but think back to that day

我不禁回想过去

when I was in Lower Manhattan with my mom

当我和母亲住在下麦哈顿的一端

all those decades ago,

几十年前

when I was scared,

我很恐惧

and I had just spotted that green lady.

发现绿魔女

And I guess the question that I keep on thinking about

我一直在思考的问题

when I see her

当我看见她

and all the younger replicas of her that are so obviously brown,

她的年轻时候的复制品明显是棕色

and even the paintings that showcase her in the beginning

甚至在一开始设计的画像

as not quite green --

不太绿

when I look at all of that,

当我回顾这一切

the question that my research seeks to answer

我努力寻找答案

becomes, to me, the same one that confounded me all those years ago:

让我困惑多年的同一个问题

Is she a monster

她是怪兽

or a hero?

还是英雄？

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（鼓掌）