美国国家公共电台 NPR Advocates Say President Trump's Immigration Policy Is 'A Tool Of Cruelty'

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Today immigrant advocates challenge a key part of President Trump¹'s immigration policy. They're in federal court, and they question the U.S. practice of telling asylum²-seekers to await their court hearings in Mexico. This was President Trump's answer to what he calls catch and release, the practice of letting asylum-seekers live in the U.S. while their cases wind through immigration court. Immigrant advocates say the solution is worse than the problem. NPR's Joel Rose has one family's story.

JOEL ROSE, HOST:

One night this past March, Gabi (ph) and her family crossed the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, where Border Patrol agents took them into custody³.

GABI: (Through interpreter) They then told my kids to stop crying, they were going to a safe place where they'd have food and be treated well.

ROSE: But Gabi and her family spent the next three nights sleeping on the ground under a bridge, where hundreds of migrants were detained. She asked that we not use the family's last name because they are still in immigration proceedings⁴. Images of those migrants penned in parking lots with Mylar blankets were big news in the spring, when immigration authorities didn't have the space to handle more than 100,000 migrants arriving each month. Kevin McAleenan, who was head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the time, went to El Paso to sound the alarm.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEVIN MCALEENAN: We are doing everything we can to simply avoid a tragedy in a CBP facility. But with these numbers, with the types of illnesses we're seeing at the border, I fear that it's just a matter of time.

ROSE: Gabi's 5-year-old daughter did get sick. She suffered from severe stomach problems that required a lot of medical attention. Gabi blames the food and the stress of being detained. Then, her family was separated by immigration authorities, she thinks because she and her husband don't have an official marriage license⁵. Without explanation, her husband and son were released to join relatives in the U.S. while Gabi and her daughter were sent back to Mexico. She's still struggling to understand why.

GABI: (Through interpreter) Everyone has asked me that question. Why were you sent back with a child who was sick?

ROSE: Gabi and her family arrived in El Paso just as the Trump administration was engineering a huge shift in U.S. asylum policy. It's known as "Remain in Mexico" or by its official name, the Migrant Protection Protocols⁶, and it was designed by the Trump administration to stop the historic influx⁷ of migrants. Here's then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen telling Congress that migrants would still be allowed to cross the border for their asylum hearings.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KIRSTJEN NIELSEN: This is to assure a safe and orderly flow and to ensure that their human - humanitarian⁸ rights are protected.

ROSE: But immigrant advocates say that's not happening. They will argue in court today that the program violates U.S. law because it forces migrants to wait in places where they're not safe and can't get lawyers. Advocates say the human toll⁹ is enormous. Families like Gabi's are separated if they don't have the right paperwork, and vulnerable migrants are targets in dangerous Mexican border towns.

GABI: (Through interpreter) No, I don't feel safe in Juarez.

ROSE: Gabi says she and her 5-year-old daughter were kidnapped by a cab driver in Ciudad Juarez. Her family in Honduras had to send money to get them released. She says cartels and gangs prey¹⁰ on migrants.

GABI: (Through interpreter) I'm a migrant. In Juarez, a migrant is money. For bad people here, I represent money to them.

ROSE: Immigration officials have downplayed reports of kidnapping and other crimes against migrants who were forcibly returned to Mexico. Instead, they say the program is a, quote, "game changer" because it's allowed them to fulfill¹¹ a central campaign promise of President Trump, the end of so-called catch and release. Here's Kevin McAleenan, now the acting¹² Homeland Security secretary, announcing last week that most migrant families will no longer be allowed to live in the U.S. while they wait for their day in immigration court.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MCALEENAN: DHS will no longer be releasing family units from Border Patrol stations into the interior. This is a vital step in restoring the rule of law and integrity to our immigration system.

ROSE: Those migrants are now being sent back to Mexico, more than 48,000 of them so far. Gabi and her daughter were among the first to be returned to Juarez. They've been going back and forth¹³ to immigration court in El Paso for months, arguing that they deserve political asylum in the U.S. In Honduras, which is rife¹⁴ with corruption¹⁵ and violence, Gabi says her family was threatened by a local gang for supporting the wrong political party. Her attorney is Linda Rivas with the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, one of the few lawyers in El Paso who's been willing to take on cases of migrants in Juarez.

LINDA RIVAS: I feel she has a decent asylum claim. But the reality is we are in an incredibly difficult jurisdiction¹⁶, and I can't guarantee her a victory in an El Paso court. I just can't.

ROSE: That's left Gabi facing a harrowing choice between doing what's best for her daughter or what's best for her son. Her daughter, who is 5, has dropped from 40 pounds to just 26 pounds - what a 3-year-old should weigh.

GABI: (Through interpreter) It's still her stomach. She's really sick from her stomach since we got here. Sofia (ph) hardly eats anything. She just watches TV. There are days that she doesn't want to talk to me. She doesn't want anything.

ROSE: Gabi's 7-year-old son, meanwhile, is growing up without her - thousands of miles away with his father in Connecticut.

GABI: (Through interpreter) He says, Mommy, I'm praying every day to God for you to come here. He pleads with me to not give up and tells me that he's waiting for me. It's really hard because it's the first time we've been separated, and he tells me he misses me and doing homework together. It's really hard.

ROSE: Gabi's lawyer, Linda Rivas, says this is what happens to migrants under Remain in Mexico.

RIVAS: It is a tool of cruelty by this administration. And this young mother - this young but strong and brave mother is living this every single day.

ROSE: Gabi was scheduled for her final asylum hearing yesterday, but she didn't go. Gabi and her daughter took a bus back home to Honduras. She thinks it's the best place for her daughter to get healthy. She doesn't know when she'll see her son or her husband again.

Joel Rose, NPR News.

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 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。

3 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。

4 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

7 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

11 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

12 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。

13 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

14 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。