移民的负担
过去七年里，我投入了大量精力，支持在前苏联集团国家建立开放社会。在那些国家，开放社会的含义很容易解释：它就是共产主义的对立面。开放社会就是美国，一个以依赖法治、民选政府、多元文化以及尊重不同人群为特征的国家。当然，真相始终更为复杂。但那个形象和理想曾令人振奋，至今依然如此。
In the last seven years, I have devoted considerable energy to support the creation of open societies in the former Soviet bloc. In those countries, the meaning of open society was easy to explain: It was the opposite of Communism. Open society was the United States, a country characterized by a reliance on the rule of law, a democratically elected government, a diverse culture and respect for people who are different. The truth, of course, was always more complicated. Yet the image and the ideal were inspiring, and they remain so to this day.
合法移民——逃离宗教和政治迫害的难民、渴望与亲人团聚的家庭成员、有才华有干劲的年轻企业家——长期以来来到美国，寻求一个公平的贡献机会，在此过程中，他们丰富了我们的文化，增强了国家的实力。
Legal immigrants—refugees fleeing religious and political persecution, family members wanting to be reunited with loved ones, young entrepreneurs with talent and drive—have long come to America seeking a fair chance to contribute and, in the process, have enriched our culture and strengthened the nation.
昨天，随着新福利法生效，国会开始剥夺这个公平机会的大部分内容。它将禁止大多数合法移民，包括永久居民和获得庇护的难民，领取食品券和补充保障收入（Supplemental Security Income），后者惠及老年人和残疾人。合法移民在入境后的头五年，也将被剥夺福利和医疗补助（Medicaid）的资格。
Yesterday, Congress began taking away much of that fair chance when the new welfare law went into effect. It will bar most legal immigrants, including permanent residents and refugees granted asylum, from receiving food stamps and Supplemental Security Income, which benefits the elderly and the disabled. Legal immigrants will also be denied welfare and Medicaid benefits in their first five years in the country.
根据国会预算办公室（Congressional Budget Office）的数据，超过 50 万移民可能失去补充保障收入；约 90 万人可能失去食品券。合法移民仅占公共救济领取者的约 5%，却承受了福利削减中的 40% 以上。
According to the Congressional Budget Office, more than 500,000 immigrants are likely to lose Supplemental Security benefits; about 900,000 are likely to lose food stamps. Legal immigrants represent only about 5 percent of those on public aid, yet they are absorbing more than 40 percent of the cuts in welfare.
移民一直自食其力。除了投票权，合法移民享有与公民同等的权利，承担同等的责任。他们在军队服役。他们缴纳的税款超过他们所获得的福利。剥夺他们为之付费的安全网，既不必要也不公平，而且打破了长期引以为豪的传统——即把合法移民视为未来公民，视其为国家资产，而非视为负担的非公民外国人。
Immigrants have always pulled their weight. Except for the right to vote, legal immigrants have enjoyed the same rights and shared the same responsibilities as citizens. They serve in the military. They contribute more in taxes than they receive in benefits. Denying them the safety net they help pay for is neither necessary nor fair, and it breaks with a long and proud tradition of treating legal immigrants as future citizens who are assets, rather than as non-citizen aliens who are a burden.
在即将失去福利的合法移民中，超过一半的人已在美国居住五年以上，很可能有资格入籍。预计今年将有超过 100 万居民申请公民身份。然而，通过剥夺挣扎中的移民的福利，我们给他们在申请公民身份时本已面临的障碍——包括学习英语、准备考试和支付处理费——又添上了一道。
More than half of the legal immigrants who will lose their benefits have lived in the country for more than five years and are likely eligible for naturalization. More than one million residents are expected to apply for citizenship this year. Yet in taking benefits away from struggling immigrants we are adding yet another obstacle to those they already face in applying for citizenship, including learning English, studying for the test and paying processing fees.
毫无疑问，福利体系需要改革，以便将人们从依赖转向工作。但要实现这一点，短期内我们必须投入更多资金，而非更少，因为创造就业需要更多的公共投资和职业培训——无论对公民还是合法移民都是如此。剥夺移民的福利，会以制造不公正为代价，带来虚假的节省。
There is no question that the welfare system needs to be reformed so that it moves people from dependency to work. But to do so we must spend more money, not less, in the short term, because creating work requires more public investment and job training—for citizens and legal immigrants. Depriving immigrants creates false savings at the cost of perpetrating an injustice.
作为一名移民和归化美国公民，我对所有来美国寻求更好生活的人深表同情。我获得了成功，但我知道，我们每个人在生命中的某个时刻都需要帮助。二战后，我离开匈牙利，在英国待了几年，做过铁路搬运工。我摔断了腿，由国家健康服务系统（National Health Service）免费照顾。我曾依赖政府援助。
As an immigrant and naturalized United States citizen, I have a deep sympathy for all those who come to America in search of a better life. I have prospered, but I know that we all need a helping hand at some time in our lives. After World War II, I left Hungary and stayed in England for several years, working as a railroad porter. I broke my leg and was taken care of, free of charge, by the National Health Service. I depended on government assistance.
如果来到美国的移民遭遇类似的不幸，如果他们无法工作或找不到一份报酬体面的工作，家人食不果腹，他们又能向何处求助？答案中蕴含着我们作为人民和作为一个国家的身份认同。
If immigrants to America suffer similar misfortunes, if they cannot work or find a decent- paying job and their families are starving, where will they turn for help? In the answer lies our identity as a people and as a nation.