VOA慢速英语：美国国务院指示设定签证新步骤

State Department Directives Describe New Steps for US Visas

美国国务院指示设定签证新步骤

The United States has told its diplomats overseas to identify groups whose members should be thoroughly investigated when they request a visa. The State Department sent a series of directives to U.S. embassies and diplomatic offices earlier this month.

美国已经要求海外外交官确定在签证时应当进行彻底调查的群体。本月初国务院向美国大使馆和外交部门发出了一系列指示。

The department told them to investigate the social media messages and activities of visa applicants. It said officials should be looking for people who are suspected of terrorist ties or of having been in areas controlled by the Islamic State group.

国务院要求他们调查签证申请人的社交媒体信息和活动，称有关官员应该审查涉嫌与恐怖分子存在关联或曾经身处伊斯兰国控制地区的申请人。

Another directive ordered embassies to set up security and intelligence working groups to establish guidance for "population sets." It said these measures would identify which people require a detailed investigation before they are permitted in the United States.

另一项指示命令大使馆设立安全和情报工作组为特定人群制定指导方针，并称这些措施将会确定“哪些人在被允许进入美国之前需要进行详细调查。”

Even if someone is qualified for a visa, they could still be barred from entering the country if they do not meet the rules set by the working groups.

即使某些人有资格获得签证，如果不符合该工作组所制定的规则，他们仍可能会被禁止入境。

The directives are the first evidence of a Trump administration plan for the "extreme vetting" of foreigners before they are given visas.

这些指示是川普政府计划对外国人签发签证前进行“极度审查”的第一个例证。

Before becoming president, Donald Trump promised such a plan to American voters during the 2016 election campaign.

在成为总统前，川普在2016年竞选期间向美国选民承诺了这样一个方案。

The four documents sent between March 10 and March 17 do not tell which "population sets" are to be given additional examination.

3月10日到17日发出的四份文件并未指明哪些人群需要进行额外审查。

But one document says investigators should ask visa applicants about where they worked, who they worked for and where they traveled over the past 15 years. The document also tells investigators to ask applicants for all email addresses and social media names used over the past five years.

但有一份文件称，调查人员应该询问签证申请人他们在哪工作，为谁工作以及过去15年去过那些地方。这份文件还让调查人员询问申请人过去五年使用过的电子邮件地址和社交媒体账户名。

The State Department said later it was withdrawing the questions until they are approved by another federal agency.

国务院随后表示正在撤回这些问题，直到被另一家联邦机构批准为止。

The Reuters news agency first reported on the series of directives last week.

上周路透社率先报道了这一系列指示。

Rights groups and others have criticized the directives and accused Trump of discriminating against Muslims. They note his recent executive order to block travelers from six countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

权利组织和其他人批评了这些指示，并指责川普歧视穆斯林。他们提到了川普最近禁止六个国家旅客入境的行政命令，这六个国家包括伊朗、利比亚、索马里、苏丹、叙利亚和也门。

A federal judge has suspended the government's enforcement of the ban.

一位联邦法官已经暂停了政府执行这一禁令。

The rights group Amnesty International wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week. It said the documents "could provide license for discrimination based on national origin and religion. They could provide a pretext for barring individuals based on their nonviolent beliefs and expression. Social media checks, as well as demands for social media passwords at U.S. borders, have significant implications for privacy and freedom of expression."

大赦国际组织上周给国务卿蒂勒森致信。信中写道，这些文件“给基于国籍和宗教的歧视提供了许可证，也为以非暴力信仰和言论为由禁止个人入境提供了借口。审查社交媒体账户，以及要求在入境美国时提供社交媒体账户密码对个人隐私和言论自由带来了重大影响。”

Law professor Anil Kalhan leads the international human rights committee of the New York City Bar Association. He said the documents "will needlessly worsen visa processing backlogs" and may lead to applications for visas being wrongly denied.

法律教授Anil Kalhan领导了纽约市律师协会国际人权委员会。他说这些文件“将会不必要地加大签证处理的积压”，并可能会导致签证申请被错误地拒绝。

Some refugee aid groups and even State Department workers have said the visa investigation process is already very strong.

一些难民援助团体甚至国务院工作人员都表示，签证调查程序已经很严格。

Stephen Yale-Loehr is an immigration law professor at Cornell University's law school. Last month, he told CBS News "we have a terrorist watch database. We have known immigration violators database. We have a criminal background check database that they have to go through. They don't just take the visa applicant's word. They do go through all of these computer databases to verify for themselves that it's appropriate to issue the visa to a particular individual."

Stephen Yale-Loehr是康奈尔大学法学院的移民法教授。上个月他对CBS新闻表示，“我们拥有一个恐怖分子监视数据库，我们已经了解了移民违规者数据库。我们拥有一个申请者必须通过的犯罪背景调查数据库。签证官不只是获取签证申请表格上的数据，他们会认真检查所有这些计算机数据库，以验证向特定个人签发签证是否适当。”

I'm Dorothy Gundy.

多萝西·甘地报道。