导读:据美联社援引政府官员的话：美国总统奥巴马结束授予免签进入美国的古巴人居住权的政策。
The 20-year-old policy allows Cuban migrants who reach US soil to become legal permanent residents after a year.
允许来到美国国土一年的古巴移民成为合法永久居民，这一政策延续了20年。
In exchange, Havana has agreed to start accepting Cubans who are turned away or deported from the US.
作为交换，哈瓦那同意开始接受被拒绝或被驱逐出美国的古巴人。
Many Cubans in the US say Washington is rewarding a regime which has failed to address human rights concerns.
许多在美国生活的古巴人说，华盛顿正在回报一个不能解决人权问题的政权。
But President Obama is trying to continue the thawing of relations with Cuba in his final days of office.
但奥巴马总统正试图在他最后的办公时间里继续解冻与古巴的关系。
He said: "With this change we will continue to welcome Cubans as we welcome immigrants from other nations, consistent with our laws."
他说：“随着这一变化，我们将继续欢迎符合我们法律的古巴人，就像欢迎来自其他国家的移民一样。”
In a statement on state television, the Cuban government praised the move as "an important step in advancing relations’’ between the US and Cuba.
在国家电视台发表的声明中，古巴政府称赞此举是古巴和美国之间增进关系的重要一步。
It is unclear where relations between the two countries will go now.
两国关系的走向仍不明朗。
Mr Obama’s successor, President-elect Donald Trump, has taken a much tougher stance and could reverse the change.
奥巴马继任者特朗普采取更加强硬的立场，可以扭转这种变化。
Until now, the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy has applied solely to Cubans, tens of thousands of whom reached US soil last year, including by land.
目前为止，被称为“湿脚干脚”的政策只对古巴人实施，去年，有数万名古巴人到达美国国土，包括由陆路而来的人。
Thousands of other Cubans are intercepted at sea every year by the US coast guard before they can get a dry foot on land.
数以万计的古巴人在干脚登陆前，被美国海岸警卫拦截。
Immigrants from other countries who come to the US without a visa could be arrested and deported.
其他没有签证来自其他国家的移民可能会被逮捕或者驱逐出境。
There have been two key parts to Washington’s policy towards Cuba for decades - a carrot and a stick. The stick is the US economic embargo on the island - that can’t be removed without the approval of Congress.
几十年来，华盛顿对古巴的政策有两个重要部分——胡萝卜和棍子。棍子是对该岛的经济禁运，在美国国会批准的情况下，这不能被撤销。
But the carrot that has been dangled before Cubans is a special immigration right known as "wet foot, dry foot". Under that policy, Cubans who manage to get a single dry foot on US soil have the right to residency without a visa and can apply for citizenship.
但是一直悬在古巴人面前的胡萝卜是广为人知的“湿脚干脚”特殊移民权利。在这一政策下，那些设法干脚踏上美国国土的古巴人，拥有免签居住权，并且能够申请公民身份。
The Cuban government blames the measure for the brain drain on the island and for encouraging thousands of people to risk their lives each year in attempts to make it to the US on rickety rafts.
古巴政府谴责这一促成岛上人才外流的措施，该政策还鼓励成千上万的古巴人每年冒着生命危险试图坐着摇晃的木筏进入美国。
In the US itself, it has also provoked anger among other Latin-American lobby groups who feel the policy unfairly favours Cubans and grants them an immigration status well above that of other Latinos.
就美国本身而言，这也引发了其他拉丁美洲游说团体的愤怒，他们觉得该政策偏袒古巴人，并给予他们一个远远高于其他拉丁美洲人的移民身份。
With the recent thaw in relations between Washington and Havana, it always seemed likely that the policy had its days numbered - why provide an extra incentive to Cuba’s people to escape if the communist island it it’s no longer your enemy?
随着最近华盛顿和哈瓦那之间的关系解冻，这个政策的出现似乎指日可待——如果这个共产主义岛屿不再是你的敌人，为什么要为古巴人民提供额外的激励出逃呢？
The Obama administration decision to remove the long-standing measure is probably its last act in an extraordinary period of change under the outgoing president.
奥巴马政府撤销长期实施的“湿脚干脚”措施，可能是在总统即将离任这一非凡变革时期的最后举动。
