VOA慢速英语2018 美国外国出生人口上升至百年来最高水平

U.S. Foreign-Born Population Rises to Highest in a Century

In the United States, the number of people who were born overseas rose last year to its highest share in over a century.

美国的外国出生人口数量去年上升到了一个多世纪以来的最高比例。

The increase raised the number of foreign-born residents to 44.5 million in 2017, up 1.8 percent from a year earlier.

这一增长使得2017年外国出生居民人数增加到4450万，比去年同期增长了1.8%。

Those numbers come from the U.S. Census 1 Bureau.

这些数字出自美国人口普查局。

The administration of President Donald Trump 2 has said it wants to restrict legal immigration. It has increased efforts to detain and expel immigrants who entered the country without the government’s permission.

川普政府曾表示希望限制非法移民，并加大了对非法入境者的拘留和遣返力度。

In fact, notes Randy Capps, the government has done little to restrict legal immigration.

兰迪·卡普斯（Randy Capps）指出，实际上政府在限制非法移民上几乎什么都没做。

Capps studies changes in population at the Migration 3 Policy Institute. He told the Reuters news agency that America’s strong job market likely caused part of the increase in the foreign-born population.

卡普斯在移民政策研究所研究人口变化。他对路透社表示，美国强劲的就业市场可能是造成外国出生人口增长的部分原因。

“The economy’s definitely a factor in this, not just in more people coming but in more people staying,” Capps said.

卡普斯表示：“经济肯定是其中一个因素，不但有更多人来美国，而且还有更多人留了下来。”

Foreign-born residents made up 13.7 percent of the U.S. population in 2017, up from 13.5 percent in 2016. Those numbers come from the Census Bureau.

2017年外国出生居民占到了美国人口的13.7%，高于2016年的13.5%。这些数据出自美国人口普查局。

That made the percentage of immigrants in the United States last year the highest since 1910, when they made up 14.7 percent of the population.

这使得去年美国的移民比例达到了1910年以来的新高，当年他们占到了人口的14.7%。

Stephen Bannon once worked as an adviser 4 to President Trump. Bannon had claimed that 20 percent of the population had immigrated 5 to the United States. He called it the biggest problem for Americans who could not find a job.

斯蒂芬·班农(Stephen Bannon)曾担任川普总统的顾问。班农声称其中20%的人口移民到了美国。他称这是找不到工作的美国人面临的最大问题。

The Census Bureau information showed that an increasing number of immigrants were from Asia or had completed higher education.

人口普查局的资料显示，越来越多的移民来自亚洲或是完成了高等教育。

This continues a trend over the past few years during which immigration from Mexico slowed.

这延续了过去多年的趋势，同期墨西哥移民有所放缓。

The information comes from the U.S. government’s American Community Survey. Experts believe this survey is the best way to estimate the immigrant population. The study is also used to measure population changes in cities and counties around the country. It counts all people born outside the U.S. and does not identify whether they are in the country legally or illegally.

这些资料出自美国政府的美国社区调查。专家认为，这项调查是估算移民人口的最佳方式。这项调查还用于衡量全国城乡人口变化。它统计了在美国以外出生的所有人，并且没有确认他们是合法还是非法移民。

Experts say the survey likely undercounts those living in the country illegally. Illegal immigrants can be more difficult to identify in population counts because of informal housing. Also, some illegal immigrants do not take part in the survey for fear of being reported to the government, experts say.

专家表示，这项调查可能会低估非法居住在该国的人数。由于没有正规住房，非法移民在人口统计方面可能更难以确定。专家表示，此外还有一些非法移民不参与调查，因为他们害怕被报告给政府。

Jeffrey Passel is a population researcher at Pew Research Center. He estimates that the true immigrant population is likely three percent to five percent higher than the number in the American Community Survey.

杰弗里·帕塞尔（Jeffrey Passel）是皮尤研究中心的人口研究员。他估计实际移民人口可能比美国社区调查中的人数高出3%到5%。

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

census – n. counting of people living in an area to

trend – n. a general direction of change

survey – n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something

informal – adj. not requiring serious or official behavior

factor – n. something that helps to produce a result

bureau – n. a specialized office or agency