Americans are viewed as being obsessed with money. But when it comes to immigration, the US stands apart as the least money-minded of its peers. From Canada to Australia, the more cash you have the quicker you get your passport. In the UK, the doors were long since flung open to the world’s tired and huddled Russian oligarchs. By contrast, the Byzantine US visa system does its best to deter educated foreigners while in practice accepting an outsized share of the world’s migrant poor. There is every likelihood that contrast is about to get wider.
有人認爲美國人眼睛裏只有錢。但在移民問題上,美國與其他國家相比,卻是對錢最不在乎的一個。在加拿大和澳洲等國,你兜裏的錢越多,就能越快拿到公民身份。英國也早就向被折騰得身心俱疲的俄羅斯寡頭們敞開了大門。相比之下,錯綜複雜的美國簽證制度竭盡全力阻止受過教育的外國人進入美國,而與此同時,事實上又接納了全世界很大一部分貧窮移民。這種對比還有可能變得更加鮮明。