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VOA慢速英语2017--美国非法移民害怕被驱逐出境

时间:2017-02-22 23:32:45

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Cindy lives with her three children in a small bedroom in an apartment near a major American city. Two other adults also live in the apartment.

Cindy asked VOA to use just her first name for this story. She is not in the United States legally. She was born in Guatemala and brought to the United States when she was five years old.

So, Cindy considers the U.S. home.

“Even though I don’t have papers, I feel that I’m from here. Of course, I’m proud of having been born in Guatemala, but I wasn’t raised there. I don’t know the culture over there. I don’t know what it’s like to live there.”

She has worked since she was 17, holding different jobs. She is now 29 and pregnant. Cindy says she wants to stay in the United States so she and her family can have a good life. Her children were born in the United States, so they are citizens. Cindy says she is more scared than she has ever been of being deported2 to Guatemala. She says she wants to become a legal resident of the United States.

Cindy is among an estimated 11 million people living in the United States without government permission. Experts say more than half of them are from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

Last week, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, carried out raids around the country. They arrested 680 people. The agency said it was targeting people who had been found guilty of crimes while in the United States. ICE said the raids were no different than those that took place during the Obama administration.

In a statement this week, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said “President Trump3 has been clear in affirming the critical mission of DHS in protecting the nation, and directed our department to focus on removing illegal aliens who have violated our immigration laws.”

Trump promised often during the campaign to stop illegal immigration. He said if he became president he would deport1 up to three million people involved in criminal activity. On January 25th, he signed a presidential order that expanded the powers of ICE to detain immigrants.

On Sunday, Trump wrote a message on the social networking site Twitter. He said “The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers4 (and) others are being removed!”

His message seemed to differ from what ICE said about its actions: that they were usual -- no different from what the agency did when Barack Obama was president.

The Department of Homeland Security said 25 percent of those arrested last week had not been found guilty of criminal acts in the United States but were in the country illegally. It said their cases will be examined individually. It said they may be deported even if they are not criminals.

Angelica Satas is the executive director of the Coalition5 for Humane6 Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. She said she has been watching the operations of ICE for 30 years. She said last week’s raids were “not normal.” She said many more people called her organization than usual while a raid was taking place in Los Angeles. She said some people were being seized in their homes and as they traveled to their jobs.

Many immigrants are afraid. There are reports that ICE will be setting up checkpoint stations to stop and seize immigrants who entered the United States without permission.

Many people from Latin America live in the Columbia Heights area of Washington, DC. VOA spoke7 with some of them as they waited at a Catholic Charities center for free food. They said they feared being deported.

Rodrigo Aguirre works at Catholic Charities. He says he has noticed a difference from a year ago.

"We're seeing people just become a little bit more afraid about asking for help. Because they are fearful of the consequences -- fearful that their name might be given to immigration and then eventually deported."

VOA spoke to a Salvadoran woman named Hemelina while she was waiting for free food from the center. She said she came to the United States illegally last year. She said she fled El Salvador because her husband often hit her and she feared gangs -- groups of criminals.

Smita Dazzo is an immigration lawyer for Catholic Charities. She says Hemelina could be given asylum8 if she can show a judge proof that she would be harmed if she is returned to El Salvador. Dazzo says most of the immigrants she talks to have what the law calls a well-founded fear of persecution9 in their home country.

“The majority of people that are coming here really are fleeing for their lives. It's, it's really, really scary for these people and some of them really honestly feel like they have no choice."

Dazzo says Trump’s election has caused many people in the U.S. illegally to begin the process of getting permission to stay.

But supporters of Trump’s immigration policy say limits are required because there are so many people who want to come to, or stay in, the U.S.

Dan Stein is among these voices. He heads the Federation10 for American Immigration Reform. He says that in the past 40 years the United States has had the highest level of immigration in its history. He says that cannot continue.

"All countries have to deal in the real world. And there are simply far more people who would like to move to a country like the United States than we can possibly handle and still provide a good quality of life and a shot at the American dream for people who are here today.”

It is not clear what will happen to the millions of people in the United States illegally who have not done a crime while they are here. They have families and jobs. Immigration activists11 say the solution is a law that lets them stay.

Dazzo says “there are a lot of people who come here as children that are really upstanding citizens. They work hard, they’re family oriented. They’re exactly what you hope that Americans are.”

Words in This Story

papers – expression immigration documents that show a person has permission to be in a country

deport – v. to force (a person who is not a citizen) to leave a country

resident – n. someone who lives in a particular place

affirm – v. to show a strong belief in or dedication12 to (something, such as an important idea)

critical – adj. extremely important

mission – n. a task or job that someone is given to do

focus – v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific (often + on)

crackdown – n. a serious attempt to punish people for doing something that is not allowed; an increased effort to enforce a law or rule

merely – adv. used to describe the only reason for something or the only effect of something

gang – n. a group of criminals

persecute13 – v. to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs

handle – v. to do the work required for something; to deal with (a person, situation, etc.) successfully

upstanding – adj. honest and respectable

oriented – adj. designed to appeal to a certain kind of people; interested in a particular thing, activity, etc.


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1 deport aw2x6     
vt.驱逐出境
参考例句:
  • We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
  • More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。
2 deported 97686e795f0449007421091b03c3297e     
v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 );举止
参考例句:
  • They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格,将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
4 dealers 95e592fc0f5dffc9b9616efd02201373     
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者
参考例句:
  • There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
  • The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败,与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。
5 coalition pWlyi     
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合
参考例句:
  • The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
  • Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
6 humane Uymy0     
adj.人道的,富有同情心的
参考例句:
  • Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗?
  • Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。
7 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
8 asylum DobyD     
n.避难所,庇护所,避难
参考例句:
  • The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
  • Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。
9 persecution PAnyA     
n. 迫害,烦扰
参考例句:
  • He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
  • Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。
10 federation htCzMS     
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会
参考例句:
  • It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
  • Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。
11 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 dedication pxMx9     
n.奉献,献身,致力,题献,献辞
参考例句:
  • We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
  • Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。
13 persecute gAwyA     
vt.迫害,虐待;纠缠,骚扰
参考例句:
  • They persecute those who do not conform to their ideas.他们迫害那些不信奉他们思想的人。
  • Hitler's undisguised effort to persecute the Jews met with worldwide condemnation.希特勒对犹太人的露骨迫害行为遭到世界人民的谴责。

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