奥巴马宣布暂停驱逐非法移民子女

Mitt Romney avoided taking a firm position yesterday on President Barack Obama’s order to halt the deportation of children of illegal immigrants, highlighting his campaign’s dilemma – to widen its appeal to Hispanic voters while not alienating the Republican party’s conservative base, which backs harsh immigration laws.

米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)昨日避免对巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)暂停驱逐非法移民子女的法令持强硬立场，突显出其竞选团队的两难处境——既要扩大对拉丁裔美国人的吸引力，又不致疏远共和党的保守派根基，后者支持实施严厉的移民法律。

On CBS’s Face the Nation , Mr Romney attacked Mr Obama for “doing nothing on immigration since taking office and then resorting to a politically motivated stopgap measure rather than pursuing a permanent fix.

在哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)资讯节目“面对国家(Face the Nation)中，罗姆尼指责奥巴马自上台以来在“移民问题上毫无作为，然后付诸政治动机的权宜之计，而非寻求永久的解决办法。

But Mr Romney declined to say whether he would seek to overturn the measure allowing children of illegal immigrants to remain in the country and work legally on a temporary basis.

但罗姆尼拒绝表明他是否会设法推翻这一法令。该法令允许非法移民子女暂时留在美国并合法工作。

Mr Obama’s move was an attempt by the White House to reinforce its advantage with Hispanics, a potentially pivotal voting bloc in the November presidential election.

奥巴马此举是白宫强化民主党在拉丁裔美国人群体中的优势的努力。拉丁裔美国人可能是今年11月美国总统大选中极为关键的选民群体。

By putting Mr Romney on the defensive on the issue, Mr Obama’s re-election team is trying to regain momentum after a rough few weeks during which the presumptive Republican candidate has gained traction in many polls, capitalising mainly on the fresh slowdown in the US economic recovery.

奥巴马的竞选连任团队迫使罗姆尼在这一问题上采取守势，以便从此前数周的颓势中重振旗鼓。共和党总统候选人罗姆尼最近几周在许多民调中人气上升，主要得益于美国经济复苏再次放缓。

Mr Obama is ahead by just 0.7 percentage points over Mr Romney, a statistical tie, in the latest poll average by Realclearpolitics.com.

Realclearpolitics.com公布的最新民调综合结果显示，奥巴马仅领先罗姆尼0.7个百分点，这在统计学上属于不分胜负。

Mr Romney was among the toughest Republican primary candidates on immigration – opposing the Dream Act, which offered a path to citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, and endorsing the concept of “self-deportation, in which illegal immigrants would voluntarily leave the US because the law made conditions so difficult for them.

在初选期间，罗姆尼是在移民问题上持最强硬立场的共和党候选人之一。他反对为非法移民子女取得美国国籍提供途径的《梦想法》(Dream Act)，并支持“自我驱逐的概念。“自我驱逐是指非法移民不堪法律的苛刻对待，自愿离开美国。

But he has been under pressure to reverse course, since Hispanic voters will play a big role in swing states including Nevada, Colorado and Florida.

但罗姆尼一直承受着改变立场的压力，因为拉丁裔美国人将在内华达州、科罗拉多州和佛罗里达州这些选举摇摆州扮演关键角色。

While some conservative Republicans attacked Mr Obama’s order for circumventing the Congress and selectively applying the law, Mr Romney refrained from challenging the president’s authority to do so, irking some within his party.

尽管某些共和党保守派人士指责奥巴马的命令绕过国会并选择性地适用法律，但罗姆尼并未质疑奥巴马是否有权力这样做，令共和党内某些人感到不满。