“GREEN CARD”, released in 1990, is one of the few romantic comedies built around immigration law. In the film Gérard Depardieu plays a French waiter living and working illegally in New York City. Andie MacDowell plays an environmentalist who marries him so that he can obtain a “green card(美国永久居留许可)”, as America’s permanent-residency permit is known. Alas, if President Donald Trump gets his way(如愿以偿，达到目的), the film’s premise may no longer work. In a move seemingly designed to slow legal migration—not just ruin mediocre films—the administration wants applicants to leave America before applying for a green card.
1990年上映的《绿卡》是少数围绕移民法展开的浪漫喜剧之一。片中，杰拉尔·德帕迪约饰演一位在纽约市非法居住和工作的法国侍者，安迪·麦克道威尔饰演一位环保主义者，她嫁给他以便他获得“绿卡”——即美国的永久居留许可。可惜的是，如果唐纳德·特朗普总统如愿以偿，这部电影的前提可能不再成立。在一项看似旨在减缓合法移民——而不仅仅是毁掉平庸电影——的举措中，政府要求申请人在申请绿卡前离开美国。
That would be a dramatic change. Since 1952, when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, America has allowed eligible foreigners—including those who marry citizens—to obtain permanent residency through a process formally known as “adjustment of status(身份调整（移民程序）)”. Anyone who arrived in the country legally could do this, in many cases even if they later overstayed a visa(签证逾期居留) or otherwise violated its terms. In 2024, of the almost 1.4m people who obtained green cards, 58% did so from within the United States.
这将是一个巨大的变化。自1952年国会通过《移民与国籍法》以来，美国一直允许符合条件的外国人——包括与美国公民结婚者——通过正式称为“身份调整”的程序获得永久居留权。任何合法入境者都可以这样做，在许多情况下，即使他们后来逾期居留或以其他方式违反签证条款也允许。2024年，近140万获得绿卡的人中，58%是在美国境内完成的。
According to a press release issued by the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on May 22nd, the administration intends to end the practice except in what it called “extraordinary circumstances”. Instead, “aliens seeking adjustment of status must do so through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the country”, the release said. This, it added, “reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows(躲入暗处（指非法居留）) and remain in the US illegally”.
根据美国公民及移民服务局（USCIS）于5月22日发布的新闻稿，政府打算终止这一做法，除非存在所谓的“特殊情况”。新闻稿称，取而代之的是“寻求身份调整的外国人必须通过国务院在国外进行领事处理”。它补充说，这“减少了寻找和驱逐那些决定躲入暗处、非法留在美国的人的必要性”。