美國宣布停止遣返年輕非法移民

中國日報網 2012-06-18 14:38

US President Barack Obama sits next to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano during the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 15, 2012.(Agencies)

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About 800,000 young illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children could be spared deportation for at least two years under new rules announced on Friday by President Barack Obama that may appeal to Hispanic voters in an election year.

"This is not amnesty. This is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship. It is not a permanent fix," Obama told reporters at the White House, adding that a permanent US immigration policy solution would have to come from Congress.

The move comes as Obama, a Democrat, is courting the nation's fast-growing Hispanic population while trying to win re-election on November 6 against Republican Mitt Romney, who has taken a harsh stand against illegal immigration. Most US illegal immigrants are Hispanics.

Under Obama's plan, those who qualify would be allowed to live and work in the United States for two years and could be eligible for extensions, the Obama administration said.

Obama has long supported measures to allow the children of illegal immigrants to study and work in the United States, but efforts to pass such measures in Congress have failed amid objections by Republicans.

The president's action sidestepped Congress and laid down a challenge to Republicans, many of whom view leniency on deportations as amounting to amnesty for illegal immigrants at a time when there are an estimated 12 million such people in the United States.

Republican lawmakers attacked the president's move, accusing Obama of encroaching into Congress' authority to set laws governing US citizenship.

But Obama said, "This is a temporary stop-gap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people."

Many of these illegal residents have lived most of their lives in the United States, attending American elementary and secondary schools. "They are Americans in their hearts and minds; in every single way but one - on paper," Obama said.

While campaigning in New Hampshire, Romney said, "The president's actions make reaching a long-term solution more difficult."

There are up to 2 million illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and who remain in the country, according to immigration group estimates. US officials said the new measures would affect roughly 800,000 people.

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

美國總統奧巴馬上周五公布了一項停止遣返守法年輕非法移民的新政策，大約80萬在少年兒童時期進入美國的守法年輕非法移民因此受益至少兩年。這項新政策有望在美國總統大選之際為奧巴馬贏得拉美裔選民的選票。

奧巴馬在白宮告訴記者：“這不是大赦，也不是豁免，更不是取得國籍的途徑。這不是長期措施。”奧巴馬補充說，有關美國移民政策的長期解決方案應該由國會出臺。

民主黨人奧巴馬頒布此項政策意在討好美國越來越多的拉美裔民眾，爭取在今年11月6日的美國總統大選中戰勝共和黨候選人米特-羅姆尼，成功連任。羅姆尼對非法移民的態度非常強硬。美國大多數非法移民都是拉美裔。

奧巴馬政府表示，按照該計劃，符合上述條件的非法移民將可以在美國生活工作和生活兩年，并有資格繼續延期。

奧巴馬一直支持允許非法移民的子女在美學習和工作的政策，但由于共和黨反對，類似決議一直沒能在國會獲得通過。

此舉繞開了國會，也使共和黨面臨挑戰。據估計，美國目前有1200萬非法移民，很多共和黨人認為對遣返的寬容就等于對非法移民的大赦。

共和黨立法者批評了奧巴馬的新政，指責他逐漸滲入了國會立法管理美國國籍的權威。

但奧巴馬說：“這只是一項臨時的消除差距的政策，使我們能夠更明智地集中資源，同時讓有才能、充滿動力、愛國的年輕人得到一絲安慰，也讓他們看到希望。”

這其中有很多非法居民已經在美國生活了大半生，在美國就讀中小學。奧巴馬說：“他們的心里和思想上都是美國人，除了名義上，他們在所有方面都是美國人。”