特朗普又出手了！
当地时间9月19日周五，美国总统特朗普突然宣布：未来 H-1B 签证申请将需要 每年 10 万美元的费用，并推出所谓的“特朗普金卡”和“白金卡”签证，费用高达百万甚至五百万美元，可为外国人打开通往美国长期居留甚至公民身份的新通道。
H-1B 一直是高技能外国人才（尤其是 STEM 领域）进入美国的主要途径，如今却被贴上了“富人专属通道”的新标签。那么问题来了：经过特朗普一通操作，未来的美国，到底是“人才的美国”，还是“金钱的美国”？
华盛顿——美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周五签署了一项公告，将要求 H-1B 签证申请缴纳新的年度 100,000 美元费用，同时对这一高技能外国工人项目作出其他调整，该项目一直受到政府审查。
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will require a new annual US$100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, among other changes to the program for highly skilled foreign workers that has come under scrutiny by the administration.
proclamation: 正式公告或声明。
require a new annual fee: 要求新的年度费用。
H-1B visa: 美国为高技能外国专业人士设立的工作签证。
come under scrutiny: 受到审查。
美国商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克表示，这笔费用为每年 100,000 美元，并补充说，“所有大公司”都已经同意。
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the fee will be US$100,000 per year and added that “all big companies” are on board.
on board: 同意、支持（常用于口语）。
H-1B 签证旨在吸引最优秀的外国人才来填补科技公司难以由美国本土公民和永久居民胜任的高技能岗位。
H-1B visas are meant to bring the best and brightest foreigners for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill with qualified U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
pipeline: （比喻）输送通道。
然而，该计划实际上已成为海外劳工的输送管道，他们往往愿意每年仅以 60,000 美元的薪资工作，这远低于美国科技工人通常超过 100,000 美元的薪酬。
The program instead has turned into a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually. That is far less than $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.
the best and brightest: 最优秀的人才。
as little as: 低至……。
far less than: 远低于。
特朗普周五坚持认为，科技行业不会反对这一举动。他说：“我认为他们会很高兴。”
Trump on Friday insisted that the tech industry would not oppose the move. “I think they’re going to be very happy,” he said.
insisted: 坚称。
oppose the move: 反对此举。
包括亚马逊、苹果、谷歌和 Meta 在内的最大科技公司的代表周五没有立即回应置评请求。微软拒绝评论。
Representatives for the biggest tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, did not immediately respond to messages for comment on Friday. Microsoft declined to comment.
declined to comment: 拒绝评论。
特朗普还宣布，他将开始出售“金卡”签证，持有人可能最终获得美国国籍。经过审查后，申请人需缴纳处理费和 100 万美元捐款，公司则需 200 万美元。
Trump also announced he will start selling a “gold card” visa with a potential pathway to U.S. citizenship. The “Trump Gold Card” will be available for a processing fee and a US$1 million contribution after vetting. For companies, it will cost US$2 million.
gold card / platinum card: 特朗普新推出的签证类别。
pathway to citizenship: 通往公民身份的途径。
vetting: 审查、背景调查。
processing fee: 办理费。
“白金卡”则需要 500 万美元捐款，允许外国人在美国停留 270 天而无需为非美国收入纳税。
The “Trump Platinum Card,” meanwhile, will be available for a US$5 million contribution and will allow foreigners to spend up to 270 days in the U.S. without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.
特朗普今年 2 月曾宣布以 500 万美元取代现有投资者签证——这现在变成了白金卡。申请人现在可加入候补名单，但仍需国会批准。
Trump announced a US$5 million gold card in February to replace an existing investor visa -- this is now the platinum card. Applicants can sign up now for a waitlist for the platinum card, but it still needs to be approved by Congress.
waitlist: 候补名单。
这些举措似乎旨在重塑签证体系，以吸引富有和高技能的外国人，尽管几乎可以肯定会面临法律挑战，并且广受批评认为特朗普绕过国会，超越了总统权限。
The actions appear intent on reshaping the visa system for wealthy and high-skilled foreigners despite near-certain legal challenges and widespread criticism that Trump is going beyond presidential authority by sidestepping Congress.
appear intent on: 似乎旨在。
sidestepping Congress: 绕过国会。
going beyond presidential authority: 超越总统权限。
第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普（原名梅拉尼娅·克瑙斯）于 1996 年 10 月获得 H-1B 工作签证，以模特身份在美国工作。她出生于斯洛文尼亚。
First lady Melania Trump, the former Melania Knauss, was granted an H-1B work visa in October 1996 to work as a model. She was born in Slovenia.
H-1B 项目于 1990 年设立，面向具有学士或以上学历的人群，用于难以填补的岗位，尤其是科学、技术、工程和数学领域。批评者说，它让公司得以支付更低的工资，同时减少劳工保护。
The H-1B program was created in 1990 for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher in fields where jobs are deemed hard to fill, especially science, technology, engineering and math. Critics say they allow companies to pay lower wages with fewer labour protections.
created in 1990: 于 1990 年设立。
STEM fields: 科学、技术、工程和数学。
labour protections: 劳工保护。
从历史上看，这些签证——每年 85,000 个——都是通过抽签系统发放的。
Historically, these visas -- 85,000 per year -- have been doled out through a lottery system.
doled out: 分配、发放（口语）。
今年，亚马逊是迄今为止获得 H-1B 签证的最大接受者，获得了 10,000 多份签证，其次是塔塔咨询公司、Microsoft、Apple 和谷歌。根据 UCIS 的数据，从地理上看，加州的 H-1B 工人数量最多。
This year, Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers, according to UCIS.
by far the top recipient: 迄今为止获得最多的。
entry-level jobs: 入门级岗位。
虽然该项目本不应压低美国工资或取代本地工人，但公司通过把岗位归类为低技能，可以支付更低薪资，即使雇用的工人经验丰富。
And while the program isn’t supposed to undercut U.S. wages or displace U.S. workers, critics say companies can pay less by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels, even if the specific workers hired have more experience.
undercut wages: 压低工资。
classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels: 将工作划分为最低技能等级。
结果，许多美国公司发现，简单地将服务台、编程和其他基本任务外包给咨询公司，例如印度的 Wipro、Infosys、HCL Technologies 和 Tata，以及美国的 IBM 和 Cognizant，会更便宜。
As a result, many U.S. companies find it cheaper simply to contract out help desks, programming and other basic tasks to consulting companies such as Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tata in India and IBM and Cognizant in the U.S.
contract out: 外包。
help desks: 技术支持台。
这些咨询公司雇用外国工人，通常来自印度，并将他们外包给希望省钱的美国雇主。
These consulting companies hire foreign workers, often from India, and contract them out to U.S. employers looking to save money.
hire … and contract them out: 雇用后再转包给他人。
另一半则流向人事或咨询公司——虽然许多是成熟的知名公司，但其他公司只是一个人的运营，如果没有 H-1B 计划，这些公司就不会存在。
The other half go to staffing or consulting firms -- and while many are established and well-known companies, others are just one-person operations that wouldn’t exist without the H-1B program.
one-person operations: 一人公司。
在拜登政府期间担任美国公民及移民服务局局长的道格·兰德（Doug Rand）表示，这相当于该计划的“人格分裂障碍”，每年只有大约一半的签证流向了提供长期就业机会的传统公司，可以让移民走上获得公民身份的轨道。
Doug Rand, who served as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration, said this amounts to a “split personality disorder” for the program, with only about half of the visas each year going to traditional companies that offer long-term employment and can put immigrants on a track to citizenship.
split personality disorder: 精神分裂，比喻项目的矛盾。
on a track to citizenship: 走上获得公民身份的道路。
兰德说：“他们基本上是靠抽签来雇人，然后再把人租给大公司做实际工作。因此，这部分系统里有很多不当行为和欺骗。”
“They’re basically entering the lottery so they can hire people that they then rent out to other larger companies doing actual work,” Rand said. “And so there’s a lot of misbehavior and chicanery in this part of the system.”
rent out: 出租、外派。
misbehavior and chicanery: 不当行为和欺骗。
2024 年，签证的抽签出价暴跌了近 40%，当局表示，这是由于那些通过提交多份（有时是可疑的）申请来不公平地增加被选中的机会来“玩弄系统”的人取得了成功。
In 2024, lottery bids for the visas plunged nearly 40 per cent, which authorities said was due to success against people who were “gaming the system” by submitting multiple, sometimes dubious, applications to unfairly increase chances of being selected.
plunged: 大幅下降。
gaming the system: 钻系统空子。
dubious applications: 可疑申请。
在出价大幅增加导致其员工和潜在员工赢得随机彩票的机会越来越小后，使用 H-1B 签证的主要科技公司寻求改变。面对它承认的可能是欺诈和滥用行为，美国公民及移民服务局今年表示，每个员工只有一次抽签机会，无论该人有一份工作机会还是 50 份工作机会。
Major technology companies that use H-1B visas sought changes after massive increases in bids left their employees and prospective hires with slimmer chances of winning the random lottery. Facing what it acknowledged was likely fraud and abuse, USCIS this year said each employee had only one shot at the lottery, whether the person had one job offer or 50.
prospective hires: 潜在雇员。
one shot: 一次机会。
批评者欢迎这一变化，但表示还需要更多改革。美国劳联-产联（AFL-CIO）去年写道，虽然抽签改革“迈出了正确的几步”，但仍远远不够。
Critics welcomed the change but said more needs to be done. The AFL-CIO wrote last year that while changes to the lottery “included some steps in the right direction,” it fell short of needed reforms.
fell short of: 未达到（期望）。
工会希望签证优先授予支付最高薪资的公司，而非随机抽签——这也是特朗普在第一任期时曾推动的方案。
The labor group wants visas awarded to companies that pay the highest wages instead of by random lottery, a change that Trump sought during his first term in the White House.
labor group: 劳工组织。
pay the highest wages: 支付最高工资。
