美国国家公共电台 NPR Government Misses Migrant Family Reunification Deadline

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Yesterday, the Trump¹ administration missed a court-ordered deadline to reunify about a hundred small children who were separated from their immigrant parents at the border over the past two months. Federal officials scrambled² to rejoin about half of the families and promise to reunite the others as soon as possible. But there is an even bigger deadline looming³. NPR's John Burnett is on the line with us from Austin. Good morning, John.

JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE⁴: Morning, Noel.

KING: All right. So why has the federal government not been able to meet the deadline that was set by a judge?

BURNETT: So at a hearing in San Diego yesterday, a Justice Department lawyer said that 51 kids were eligible⁵ for reunification on Tuesday, but others would have to happen later. Then they gave this cascade⁶ of numbers of those they couldn't rejoin for various reasons. They said that 12 parents have already been deported⁷, that eight parents have been released into the U.S., eight parents had serious criminal histories, 10 are still locked in criminal custody⁸. Health and Human Services - HHS - says they need more time to make sure the parents are the actual parents, make sure they're safe and fit to take custody of the kids. To hear the government tell it, they made the deadline with flying colors. Here's Chris Meekins in a call to reporters. He's chief of staff in HHS' Office of Preparedness and Response.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHRIS MEEKINS: HHS is complying with the court order to reunify children separated at the border from their parents. In fact, the judge has praised our progress and our focus on the safety of the children.

BURNETT: That's a bit self-congratulatory. In the hearing yesterday, Judge Dana Sabraw told the government it shouldn't have separated the kids in the first place. It needs to streamline⁹ the screening process to reunite them, and it needs to speed up the whole process. And if it misses any more deadlines, he wants the Justice Department lawyer back in his courtroom.

KING: Well, what are the actual repercussions¹⁰ for missing the deadline?

BURNETT: Well, we don't actually know yet. The federal judge is being very understanding so far. He said he believes the government is acting¹¹ in good faith to reunite all these kids. And then, remember; these were the little ones so far, ages 5 and below, who were taken away from their parents just after they crossed the southwest border, some of them crying hysterically¹².

KING: Right. There are still a lot of older kids over the age of 5. Now that the government has some semblance¹³ of a reunification process established, do you think it's going to be easier to get those older kids back to their parents?

BURNETT: Right. It's taken many hearings and enormous resources just to try and put a hundred kids back with their parents, and HHS has brought on 230 extra people and created an incident command center. So now, they're looking at this second deadline. The judge has given the government until July 26, which is just over two weeks from now, to put about 2,000 more children together with their moms and dads. These are the older kids from ages 5 to 17. And it's going to be a Herculean task. I mean, the parents are spread all over the U.S. and Central America. Some are in - some are out of detention¹⁴. I'm sure there'll be more hearings, and the government's going to ask for more extensions.

The ACLU, for its part, thinks the government is dragging its feet. They're the ones who brought the lawsuit¹⁵ to reunify the families. ACLU lawyers think this reunification process could move faster if the administration wanted it to. Reporters asked President Trump about the whole reunifying imbroglio¹⁶ yesterday, and here's what he said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I have a solution. Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That's the solution.

KING: Not a heck of a lot of sympathy there. All right. What happens to the families once they have been reunited?

BURNETT: You know, Noel, it's murky¹⁷. Every time we ask the question, they circle the wagons¹⁸ and say they want to protect the privacy of the families. What we know is the parents and kids are being reunited at third locations close to youth shelters. Then, certain faith-based groups like Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and Catholic Charities step in. They help arrange transportation to the destination city here in the U.S. and help them rent a house or a hotel room, get food, blankets, medical aid. And this is interesting. An official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the reunited families will not be detained again. So long as the parent doesn't have a deportation¹⁹ order, the parent will be given an ankle monitor, and they'll be released and wait for their asylum²⁰ hearings.

KING: NPR's John Burnett in Austin; John, thank you so much.

BURNETT: You bet, Noel.

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 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

4 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。

5 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

6 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

7 deported   

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》

8 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。

9 streamline   

vt.使成流线型；使简化；使现代化

参考例句：

• We must streamline our methods.我们必须简化方法。
• Any liquid or gas passing it will have streamline flow.任何通过它的液体或气体将呈流线型的流动。

10 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 hysterically   

ad. 歇斯底里地

参考例句：

• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
• She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着，她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。

13 semblance   

n.外貌，外表

参考例句：

• Her semblance of anger frightened the children.她生气的样子使孩子们感到害怕。
• Those clouds have the semblance of a large head.那些云的形状像一个巨大的人头。

14 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。

15 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。

16 imbroglio   

n.纷乱，纠葛，纷扰，一团糟

参考例句：

• The imbroglio led to the resignation of several managers.这场纠纷导致了多名经理辞职。
• I had seen something of this imbroglio at first hand.我曾经亲眼看到过这种乱七八糟的东西。

17 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

18 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

19 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

20 asylum   

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。