美国国家公共电台 NPR Several Thousand Migrant Children In U.S. Custody Could Be Released Before Christmas

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The Trump¹ administration has come under fire for holding a record 15,000 migrant children in shelters across the country and for long delays in releasing those children to relatives. Today NPR has learned that the Department of Health and Human Services plans to speed up the release of those children. That means hundreds of them may be able to spend Christmas with family already living in the U.S.

NPR's John Burnett has this exclusive report and joins us now from Austin. Hey, John.

JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE²: Hi, Ailsa.

CHANG: So tell us what you learned today.

BURNETT: Well, starting immediately, Health and Human Services, which is responsible for the care of the migrant kids, is changing a policy that's been really controversial. They're no longer going to do background checks on every adult who lives in the household where the child is going to live. Imagine if several families live in one household.

CHANG: Oh, yeah.

BURNETT: The government has had to do background checks on every single adult, which means fingerprinting³ and criminal records checked and even if there were no red flags. So this led to all these enormous delays, and some kids have been in custody⁴ since last summer - rather, this summer. The government will continue to do these full background checks on the actual adult sponsor who takes custody of the child, and that's often a parent, a legal guardian⁵ or extended family member.

CHANG: And how quickly exactly will these children be released, do you think?

BURNETT: Well, earlier today, I spoke⁶ with Lynn Johnson. She's the assistant secretary of Health and Human Services who's in charge of children and families. She told me initially⁷ there are about 2,000 kids in the shelter system who are ready to be released in the next four to five day.

CHANG: Oh, wow.

BURNETT: I know. I asked Assistant Secretary Johnson whether the extra vetting⁸ had accomplished⁹ anything.

LYNN JOHNSON: And we're finding that it's not adding anything to the protection or the safety for these children. The children should be home with their parents. The government makes lousy parents.

BURNETT: So, Ailsa, this is the first time the government has admitted that its background checks were a little over the top.

CHANG: And what has it been like in these shelters for these children all this time?

BURNETT: Well, I spoke with a source in West Texas who's familiar with the operation of the Tornillo tent city out in the desert. It's the largest shelter in the system, and it's been the most criticized. He said it was only supposed to be open for 30 days, but it's been extended three times. He says their staff is exhausted¹⁰. Now there are 2,800 kids out there, mainly teenage boys from Central America who came to the border without their parents, and they're running out of beds. The nonprofit that runs the camp let HHS know that its contract is up in two weeks, and the department had to do something to start downsizing the camp.

CHANG: So if all of these extreme, extensive background checks were causing lengthy¹¹ delays - there really wasn't any real justification¹² for such extensive background checks; the government's admitting to that now - why was the government doing all of this in the first place?

BURNETT: Well, I mean, HHS has been hypersensitive to the safety of the kids in its care ever since a highly publicized incident four years ago. There was some - a lot of reporting around migrant kids who were released to human trafficking rings that put the kids to work in an egg farm in Ohio. And the Trump administration said that was one of the reasons it initiated¹³ this extra screening.

But today these shelters are more than 90 percent full. They were going to reach capacity any week now, so the government had to do something to avert¹⁴ a crisis. And the assistant secretary said one option is they could have even added more beds.

JOHNSON: But I think what weighed more heavily was that I don't want to be causing any additional harm by keeping kids in care longer than they need to when they have a thoroughly¹⁵ vetted¹⁶ parent waiting for them.

BURNETT: And there was also the question of cost, Ailsa. The tent camp for children is reportedly costing the government nearly a million dollars a day. You have 2,000 employees out there taking care of 2,800 kids.

CHANG: Now, all along, children's advocates have been highly critical of these shelters. They have said that detention¹⁷ is not good for kids. What's been the reaction today?

BURNETT: So an organization called the National Center for Youth Law along with some other immigrant advocates filed a lawsuit¹⁸ last month challenging the extra backgrounding checks. And here was the reaction from the group's director of immigration, Neha Desai, when I told her about the rule change.

NEHA DESAI: This is amazing, wow.

BURNETT: Yeah.

CHANG: It's really happening.

BURNETT: She said it never should have been initiated in the first place 'cause it's causing so many children, some as young as toddlers, to be warehoused in these shelters.

DESAI: But I'm truly thrilled that the government has finally acknowledged its deeply flawed approach and chosen to correct course.

BURNETT: And she agreed it should dramatically reduce the number of kids in custody. And it's heartening that hundreds of them could be home for Christmas.

CHANG: It's wonderful news. That's NPR's John Burnett. Thanks, John.

BURNETT: You bet, Ailsa.

1 trump   

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。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 fingerprinting   

v.指纹( fingerprint的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Institutions from banks to pawnshops are fingerprinting to authenticate transactions. 从银行到当铺，都在使用指纹识别对交易进行验证。 来自互联网
• In addition, a digital fingerprinting algorithm based on binary codes is described. 介绍了一种二进制指纹编码方案。 来自互联网

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 spoke   

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。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

9 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

10 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

11 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

12 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

13 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

14 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

15 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

16 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

17 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

18 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。