Ailing Vermont Town Pins Hopes on Mideast Refugees  
美國衰敝小城 寄望中東難民
They hustled into the church on a biting winter evening, unburdened themselves of scarves and gloves, and settled into pews to sound out words in Arabic.
 
“Ahlan fii Rutland,” said Fran Knapp, a retiree who lives about 20 minutes away, one of two or three dozen people who have attended a class here on rudimentary Arabic.
It was one of many preparations this remote city in central Vermont is making before 100 refugees from Syria and Iraq arrive here over the next year, with the first expected to come this month.
 
在一個酷寒的冬夜，他們急忙擠進教堂，脫下圍巾和手套，在一排排的椅子上坐定，學習識讀阿拉伯文字詞。
住在離這裡約20分鐘路程的退休人士法蘭．納普念出：「Ahlan fii Rutland。」他是參加阿拉伯語基礎班的二、三十人之一。
在未來一年之間，將有100名敘利亞和伊拉克難民抵達這個位在佛蒙特州中部的偏遠城市，第一批難民預期這個月就會來到。而開設前述阿拉伯語班，正是這個城市事前的許多準備工作之一。
The plan’s fiercest advocate has been the mayor of Rutland, Christopher Louras, who has cited not the moral argument for resettling refugees, but an economic one: This shrinking city, long removed from its heyday as a marble producer and regional railroad hub, needs every new resident it can get. Syrian refugees, he has said, are an opportunity.
“Rutland’s demographic condition right now is not just one of a declining population, but it’s also a graying population,” said Louras, who became the mayor about 10 years ago as a Republican, but has since become an independent. “We need people,” he added.
 
這計畫最強力的倡議者是拉特蘭市長克里斯多佛．魯拉斯，他為收容安置這些難民提出的理由非道德主張，而是經濟論述：這個正在萎縮的城市，早已離開了做為大理石產地和地方鐵路交通中心的黃金時期，需要能抓住每一個新居民。他曾說，敘利亞難民提供了機會。
魯拉斯說：「拉特蘭現在的人口狀況不只是人口正在減少，同時人口也在老化。」他大約在10年前以共和黨籍身分當上市長，但從那時起改為無黨無派。他接著說：「我們需要人。」
The plan, born in a time of national discord over Muslim immigration and criticism by President-elect Donald Trump of Syrian refugees, has divided the city: An opposition group, Rutland First, sprang up — as did Rutland Welcomes, to collect donated items, help the new arrivals and watch for job openings that might suit them.
But the preparations are unfolding under a cloud of uncertainty, because it is not yet clear whether, as president, Trump will make good on his campaign promise to suspend the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States.
 
 
這個計畫誕生的時機，正值全美國對穆斯林移民意見分歧，總統當選人川普對敘利亞難民有所批評之際，這個計畫也使這個城市分裂：反對這個計畫的團體「拉特蘭優先」冒出了頭，而另一個團體「歡迎來到拉特蘭」也同時出現，後者成立宗旨是收集捐助的物品，幫助新來的人，注意可能適合他們的職缺。
但準備工作在不確定的陰影下展開，因為目前還不清楚，川普當上總統後是否會履行競選承諾，暫停在美國安置敘利亞難民。