好英语网美国移民在创新中起关键作用
Arguing against immigration policies that force foreign-born innovators to leave the United States, a new study to be released on Tuesday shows that immigrants played a role in more than three out of four patents at the nation’s top research universities.
针对美国的移民政策，一家研究机构周二发布的一份报告显示：美国排名领先的研究型大学中，四分之三以上的发明专利，都有移民在其中做出贡献。报告据此对迫使在国外出生的创新人才离开美国的移民政策提出反对。
Conducted by the Partnership for a New American Economy, a nonprofit group co-founded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York, the study notes that nearly all the patents were in science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM fields that are a crucial driver of job growth.
这项研究由非营利性组织新美国经济伙伴关系(Partnership for a New American Economy)开展。其发起人之一是纽约市长迈克尔·布隆伯格(Michael Bloomberg)。研究显示，几乎所有的发明专利都出现在科学、技术、工程和数学这些被合称作STEM的学科领域。这些领域对创造就业起着关键作用。
The report points out that while many of the world’s top foreign-born innovators are trained at United States universities, after graduation they face “daunting or insurmountable immigration hurdles that force them to leave and bring their talents elsewhere.”
报告指出，虽然很多世界领先的外国创新人才都在美国大学接受教育，但他们毕业后却面临着“巨大的、无法克服的移民障碍，不得不离开，把他们的才能也带到了别的国家。”
The Partnership for a New American Economy released a paper in May saying that other nations were aggressively courting highly skilled citizens who had settled in the United States, urging them to return to their home countries. The partnership supports legislation that would make it easier for foreign-born STEM graduates and entrepreneurs to stay in the United States.
5月份，新美国经济伙伴关系发布的报告称，其他国家正在想方设法吸引已在美国定居的高等人才，希望他们回国。该机构建议，应该通过立法，使STEM领域的外国毕业生和创业者更容易地留在美国。
“Now that we know immigrants are behind more than three of every four patents from leading universities, the federal laws that send so many of them back to their home countries look even more patently wrong,” Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement.
“现在我们知道，著名大学里四分之三以上的专利都有外国人才的参与；因此，那些迫使外国人才回国的联邦法律就越发显得不明智了，”布隆伯格在一份声明中说。
But some worry that the partnership’s ideas for immigration reform would undermine similarly skilled American workers while failing to address broader problems with immigration policy.
但也有人担心，该机构关于移民改革的理念可能会伤害到有同样技能的美国人的利益，而且也不能解决移民政策中更宏观的问题。
“No one is asking what is in their best interest, the American worker,” said Eric Ruark, director of research for the Federal for American Immigration Reform, an advocacy group that is pushing for reduced immigration. “It’s what is best for the employers. What is best for the foreign workers. It’s not as if the foreign workers aren’t skilled. What’s being ignored is we already have a domestic work force that has the same skills.”
“没有人关心，什么最符合美国工人的利益，”联邦美国移民改革研究部门的负责人埃里克·鲁阿克(Eric Ruark)说，联邦美国移民研究是个致力于推动减少移民的团体。“他们只关心雇主的利益，关心外国工人的利益。不是说外国人才没有技能，我们忽略的问题是，我们国内已经具被有同样技能的劳动力了。”
The most recent study seeks to quantify the potential costs of immigration policies by reviewing 1,469 patents from the 10 universities and university systems that had obtained the most in 2011. The schools include the University of California system, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
最近的这项研究通过评估在2011年中获得最多专利的10所大学和大学系统的1469项专利来量化移民政策的潜在代价。这些学校包括加利福尼亚大学系统、斯坦福大学和麻省理工学院。
Patents, the study maintains, are a gauge for a nation’s level of innovation and an important way for the United States to maintain an edge in STEM fields.
研究认为，专利数量是衡量一个国家创新水平的标志，给发明创造授予专利也是使美国在 STEM 领域保持领先水平的重要途径。
In one illustration of the issue, the study notes that nine out of 10 patents at the University of Illinois system in 2011 had at least one foreign-born inventor. Of those, 64 percent had a foreign inventor who was not yet a professor but rather a student, researcher or postdoctoral fellow, a group more likely to face immigration problems.
在一个案例中，伊利诺伊大学系统在2011年获得的专利中，有90%的项目至少有一位外国人参与。在这些专利项目中，64% 有外国学生、研究员或者博士后参与，而不是大学教授。这群人更有可能面临移民的困难。
Some of the patents that were reviewed for the report have become business ventures. Wenyuan Shi, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, earned a patent for an ingredient in a lollipop he developed that works as a dental treatment for children. A native of China, Mr. Shi has created a company to commercialize his inventions.
该研究所评估的这些专利中，有的已经被用于商业。比如，加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校的教授史文远（音译）获得了一项专利，他发明的是出一种可以加在棒棒糖中，用来保护牙齿的儿童配方。他是中国人，目前已经创建了一个公司，把自己的发明投入商业推广。
But current immigration laws can make it difficult for foreign-born students to remain in the United States after graduation. And employers may be wary of hiring them because green cards, allowing for permanent residency status, are limited and the process of obtaining one is cumbersome and expensive.
但是，现有的移民法律让外国的大学毕业生很难留在美国。而且，因为获得允许在美国永久居住权的绿卡数量有限，申请过程繁琐而且昂贵，所以雇主在招录他们时也会比较慎重。
Under the current system, foreign-born students are allowed to stay in the United States for 12 to 29 months after graduation, provided they find a job or internship in their field.
根据目前的规定，外国学生毕业后在自己所学领域找到工作或者实习机会，就可以在美国居留12到29个月。
After that, more permanent visas are difficult to obtain, restricted by factors like country quotas. The study notes that China is entitled to the same number of visas as Iceland.
此后，因为受到国别配额等因素的限制，拿到更长期的签证会很难。研究指出，中国人得到的签证配额和冰岛一样多。
Dr. Ashlesh Murthy came to the United States from India in 2001 to pursue a master’s degree in molecular biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Working with his professors there, he developed a vaccine for the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia, which obtained patents in 2011 and 2012.
阿什莱什·穆尔蒂博士(Ashlesh Murthy)2001年从印度来到美国位于圣安东尼奥的德克萨斯大学攻读分子生物学的硕士学位。在与导师一起工作的期间，他发明了一种对付性传播疾病衣原体的疫苗，并在2011年和2012年两次获得专利权。
Nonetheless, Dr. Murthy had to negotiate a bureaucratic maze to remain in the United States, and at one point was stuck in India for an extra month because American officials in India doubted a previously approved visa.
即使这样，穆尔蒂仍然要经过繁杂的官方手续才能留在美国。有一次，因为在印度的美国官员怀疑他以前的签证，他被迫在印度多待了一个月。
Noting that university officials petitioned a congressman to intervene on his behalf, Dr. Murthy, said, “If I was not in a position where they really wanted me, I seriously doubt I would have gotten back.”
为此，校方甚至向一位国会议员提出申请，请他过问此事，穆尔蒂说，“如果不是他们真的需要我，我很怀疑我还会不会回来。”