美国社会热点/名家漫画赏析W.D.White(美)

　　本身是澳大利亚移民的美国漫画家派特·奥列芬特并不喜欢布什总统上周宣布的解决美国非法移民问题的计划。布什总统建议成立一个“临时性工人”阶层：美国的非法移民以及那些希望进入美国的人，如果能够表明他们已经受雇于美国雇主(当然是非法的)或是已经说好了有工作，就会得到3年的工作许可。如果国会批准给予工作许可，3年时间还可以续延。虽然美国公民对此并不热心，但墨西哥总统福克斯已经积极赞同这一计划。

　　在奥列芬特的漫画中，我们看到了两队人，一队是合法移民———数量很少，显然是中产阶级，已经为在美国生活做好了准备。另一队是一大帮非法移民，这一群人代表了美国800多万多数来自拉丁美洲的移民，估计都是非法呆在美国的。请注意奥列芬特如何形容他们：急不可耐的不守秩序的一群快乐农民，他们拒绝按顺序排队———这在美国是一种很差劲的举止(但是也请注意左下角的保安人员，绝对是正宗的美国人的负面形象；当奥列芬特作画时，没有谁能逃过他的讽刺)。问题在于，非法移民通过布什的改革方案“迈进美国大门一只脚”，而那些守法的人就得往后排了。

　　在前面的桌子上我们看到副总统切尼有些不高兴(很多保守党人士都不同意这一计划)，而布什总统靠在一个大官印旁边，他正通过麦克风向人群发表讲话。奥列芬特让他说到的(其实布什并没有真这么说)“廉价的迎合”意在什么呢？意在大选：要在今年11月赢得更多的西班牙裔美国公民的选票，并在今后的几十年中，能从新归化的美国人也就是今天的非法移民中获得更多的选票。

　　Pat Oliphant, himself an Australian immigrant to the US, does not care for the plan President Bush announced last week to resolve the question of undocumented immigrants in the US. The president proposes to create a class of "temporary workers". Immigrants illegally in the US and those who wish to enter the country would get a three-year work permit if they can show that they are already employed in the US (illegally, of course) or have a job waiting for them. The permits, if approved by Congress, would be renewable. Although the response among citizens has not been enthusiastic, Mexican President Vicente Fox has warmly endorsed the plan.

　　In Oliphant's cartoon we see two lines, one for legal immigrants -- a small number of obviously middle-class people well prepared for life in the US -- and a huge mob of illegal immigrants. The mob represents the 8 million or more mostly Latin American immigrants estimated to be in America illegally. Notice how Oliphant depicts them: an eager, unruly hord of happy peasants who refuse to line up properly -- very bad behavior in the US. (But also note the security guard in the lower left, a decidedly unflattering caricature of a native-born American; when Oliphant is drawing, nobody gets off lightly.) The point is that in getting "a foot in the door" through Bush's reforms the illegal immigrants are beating out the people who have obeyed the law.

　　At the front desk we see Vice President Cheney looking none too pleased (many conservatives disapprove) and President Bush next to a big bureaucratic stamp. Bush is addressing the crowd over the loudspeaker. What is the "bit of cheap pandering" that Oliphant has him (improbably) refer to? Electioneering: an effort to win more votes from Hispanic citizens this November and, in future decades, from newly naturalized Americans who are, at the moment, unlawful sojourners in the country.