Immigrants Send Less Money to Families in Latin America
美经济衰退拉美移民汇款减少
Although economists say the United States is not technically in a recession, the slowdown in economic activity is having a dramatic impact on the amount of money immigrants are able to send back home. The so-called remittances have fallen off sharply, according to officials in several Latin American nations.
尽管经济学家认为，严格地说，美国现在并不能算是陷入了经济衰退，可是经济活动减速所造成的负面影响随处可见，而且外国民工首当其冲，这从他们给家里汇款的数量上可见一斑。根据拉丁美洲好几个国家官方的统计数字，在美国打工的拉美人寄回国的钱已经急剧下降。
The crowds of immigrant workers from Mexico and Central America seeking jobs has grown a little larger in Houston because of the slowdown in construction and the ripple effect in other areas of the economy. Houston is in relatively good shape compared to some other parts of the nation, having avoided a big downturn in housing because there was never a sharp increase in prices here as there was on the east and west coasts. But some of the same factors driving down the economy elsewhere are also present here.
由于建筑行业萎缩及其对其他经济领域造成的连锁反应，工作现在是越来越难找了。在德克萨斯州的休斯敦市，四处寻觅工作的来自墨西哥和中美州的移民劳工人数看上去是越来越多。相对美国其他地区来说，休斯敦的情况还算是不错的，因为跟东海岸和西海岸不同，休斯敦的房地产价格从来没有暴涨过，所以现在也就没有像其他地方那样出现房价暴跌。然而这并不意味着休斯敦可以幸免于难，造成其他地区经济下滑的一些因素这里也同样存在。
High fuel prices, in particular, have caused some transport and construction companies to cut back. The pinch on the pocketbooks of average people has translated into less work for gardeners, house cleaners, landscapers and other unskilled or low-skilled laborers.
比如油价飙升导致运输公司和建筑公司裁减员工。一般人也不得不勒紧腰包，过去雇人做的事情现在都自己动手了。这样一来，园丁、清洁工、园艺师和其他没有特殊技术或技能较低的工人就发现活计变得越来越少了。
Oscar Ramiro, an auto mechanic from Vera Cruz, says times are hard. He says the work has gone down and at the same time the prices for such things as gasoline, food and rent have gone up. He says he used to send around $100 a week to his family back home, but now he struggles to do it every two weeks.
拉米罗是一位来自墨西哥维拉克鲁斯的汽车修理工。他告诉美国之音，现在的日子实在不好过。拉米罗说：“工作少了，可是同时，汽油、食品和房租都涨价了。过去我每个星期都给家里汇去一百美元，可是现在两个星期都寄不了那么多了。”
Juanita, a house cleaner who has lost work, says she used to send up to $150 a week to her mother in Michoacan, in central Mexico, but now she can barely manage to send $50. She says she hears similar stories from other immigrants.
花妮塔是一个帮人家打扫屋子的清洁工。她现在已经失去了工作。花妮塔说：“我过去每个星期给我妈寄150美元。我妈住在墨西哥中部的米却肯州。可是现在，我每个礼拜勉强能寄50块钱。听说其他移民工人也都是这样。”
Juanita says she wishes someone would do something to help the undocumented workers who are struggling to survive here. She says returning to Mexico is not an attractive option because, she says, things are even worse there.
她说：“我真希望有人能对我们这些没有正式文件的劳工提供一点儿帮助，我们真是难以为生。返回墨西哥也不是什么好的选择，因为墨西哥的情况更加糟糕。”
According to the Banco de Mexico, remittances to Mexico have dropped by nearly three percent this year. Last year, immigrants in the United States sent home a record $23.9 billion, but bank officials say that figure is not likely to be matched this year. Using data that shows all remittances sent by Mexicans living outside the country, Banco de Mexico reports that immigrants sent $5.3 billion home from January to March of this year. In the same period last year, they sent $5.5 billion.
根据墨西哥银行的统计，在美国打工的墨西哥人寄回家的钱今年以来已经减少了将近3%。去年，在美国打工的墨西哥人给国内寄回了239亿美元，今年看来肯定没那么多了。今年1月到3月，在外国打工的墨西哥人总共给家里寄回了53亿美元。然而去年同一时期，他们寄回了55亿美元。
The reduction is important because remittances are second only to oil as a source of foreign income for Mexico.
移民劳工汇款回家的数量减少对于墨西哥经济来说影响很大，因为在墨西哥的外汇收入中，移民汇款是仅次于石油出口的第二大财源。
Although the price of oil has reached record levels recently, the country has not been able to take full advantage because production at Mexican wells is slowing. President Felipe Calderon has a proposal before the Mexican Congress that would allow limited participation by private companies in exploration and development so that new reserves could be opened. But leftists in the Congress have blocked discussion of the proposal saying that it is an attempt to privatize the state-owned energy sector.
尽管石油价格最近飙升到创纪录的水平，可是墨西哥却由于油田产量降低而没有得到多少好处。墨西哥总统卡尔德龙已经向议会提出建议，允许私人公司有限度地参与石油勘探和开发，以便开辟新的油田。然而议会中的左翼议员阻止了有关这个提议的讨论，并且声称，这是企图让国有的能源企业私有化。
The situation is similar in many other Latin American nations, according to the Inter-American Development Bank, which released a report Wednesday showing that only half of the nearly 19 million Latin American immigrants in the United States send money home on a regular basis, compared to well over 70 percent two years ago.
美洲开发银行报告说，在其他很多拉美国家，情况跟墨西哥差不多。根据美洲开发银行的报告，在美国打工的1千9百万拉美移民中，现在只有一半定期给家里汇款；而在两年前，这个比例超过70%。
But the bank estimates that total remittances to the region this year will be about $500 million more than they were two years ago. What has changed, according to the report, is that there are no longer large increases in money transfers, as happened each year between the years 2000 and 2006.
美洲开发银行估计，拉美国家今年收到的移民汇款总额将比两年前多5亿美元。发生的变化是：移民汇款的增长幅度不会再像2000到2006年期间那么大了。
