VOA慢速英语2010年-IN THE NEWS - Obama Urges Congress: Re

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

One of Barack Obama's campaign promises was to reform immigration policies. On Thursday he gave his first major speech on the issue as president.

BARACK OBAMA: "In sum, the system is broken. And everybody knows it."

One reason for the speech was the state of Arizona's recent passage of its own law against illegal immigration. That law has led to protests around the country. However, in public opinion surveys a majority of Americans support it. Mr. Obama criticized the law, but said such laws are the understandable result of inaction at the federal level.

After his speech, religious leaders demonstrated to call for Congress to act this year. Rabbi Michael Feingold works with immigrant and low-wage workers in New York.

MICHAEL FEINGOLD: "The way the system is now works for no one. It doesn't work for the immigrants themselves, it doesn't work for the government and it doesn't even work for some employers."

A demonstrator protests Arizona's immigration law in Los Angeles before the start of a Los Angeles Dodgers¹' baseball game with the Arizona Diamondbacks in May. Some people have called for a boycott² of Arizona products because of the law

The president said reform must be comprehensive, dealing³ not just with future immigrants but also those here now. An estimated eleven million are undocumented.

BARACK OBAMA: "They must be required to admit that they broke the law. They should be required to register, pay their taxes, pay a fine and learn English. They must get right with the law before they can get in line and earn their citizenship⁴."

In his speech the president did not announce any new proposals. Even after his appeal, Congress may consider the issue too divisive to deal with before the November elections.

In Arizona, officers are now being trained in the new law set to take effect July twenty-ninth. It requires police to confirm the immigration status of a person they meet during a lawful⁵ stop. That is only if the police have "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the country illegally.

President Obama speaking on immigration at American University in Washington

The law bars police from detaining anyone based on ethnic⁶ or racial appearance. But Hispanics and others say it could still lead to racial profiling. They say people, including legal residents and American citizens, could be unfairly targeted. Police say one thing that makes discussion of this law difficult is that many critics have not read the law.

Tucson police Sergeant⁷ Fabian Pacheco also notes that forty percent of officers in his city are Hispanic. Still, he says he worries that more people will avoid cooperating with the police, and that officers will have less time to fight more serious crimes.

Some also worry that officers could be sued under the law by people who accuse them of not doing enough enforcement. At the same time, civil rights activists⁸ could accuse them of being too aggressive.

The Obama administration and some Arizona cities hope to persuade a judge to block the new law.

A woman waits for officials in Nogales, Mexico, after being expelled from the United States

Arizona has become the point of entry for more than forty percent of illegal entrants from Mexico. The numbers grew after the federal government increased border controls in California and Texas.

Some Arizona officials blame smugglers for a serious problem with kidnappings in the Phoenix¹⁰ area. Drug groups control much of the human smuggling¹¹. Some border crossers are victims of violence. Others die crossing the desert. An Arizona rancher was also killed this year -- probably, officials say, by a Mexican drug smuggler⁹.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
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Reported by Kent Klein, Greg Flakus and Mike O'Sullivan
 

1 dodgers   

n.躲闪者，欺瞒者( dodger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a crackdown on fare dodgers on trains 对火车逃票者的严厉打击
• But Twain, Howells, and James were jeeringly described by Mencken as "draft-dodgers". 不过吐温、豪威尔斯和詹姆斯都是被门肯讥诮地叫做“逃避兵役的人。” 来自辞典例句

2 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

5 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

8 activists   

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》

9 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

10 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

11 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。