VOA慢速英语--移民母亲穿越美国边境 渴望有新的生活

Mayra is a 17-year-old migrant from Guatemala who recently crossed the Rio Grande River with her small child Marvin on her back. The river marks the border between the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico.

Mayra had joined a group of about 70 migrants that crossed the river in the dark on small rafts. The group was mostly Guatemalan and Honduran women with young children and about 25 teenagers traveling alone. Mayra hoped that, as a teenaged mother, she would be permitted to stay in the United States.

The group is among the thousands of migrants who have been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in recent weeks. The administration of President Joe Biden is trying to put the migrants in government housing during the coronavirus health crisis².

A top Biden administration official said the number of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021 is expected to be the highest in 20 years. At least 9,200 children, who had arrived without adults, are in custody³ of the Office of Refugee⁴ Resettlement. That government agency deals with migrant children.

Mayra's group arrived in Penitas, Texas after crossing the river. The teens and parents then made the final part of their trip: walking to the U.S. border wall. There, they waited for U.S. border officers to take them into custody.

Mayra went down a dirt road in between cotton fields on the way to the tall metal wall. Her baby was tired and crying.

"I heard on the news that mothers with their babies and minors⁶ could come," she said.

When a neighbor offered to help pay for her trip, she felt like she had no choice. Her father was dead. Her mother's health was getting worse. She was earning $5 a day planting corn. She sometimes took extra work washing clothes. Marvin's father had disappeared. He left us, she said while crying. "We have nothing."

The group spent the final night of their trip on the floor of an empty building on a farm near the river. "We slept like animals," one young mother said.

‘Now, it's finally real'

People in the group said word is spreading in Central America that people aged¹ 17 and under and mothers of young children can enter the country. These claims, they said, caused them to take the long trip – in buses, on foot, and in trucks – to get to the Rio Grande River.

Biden has said he wants to follow a more humane⁷ immigration policy than the policies of former president Donald Trump⁸. Biden has begun to let in children who are not traveling with a parent or guardian⁹. But he has kept in place Trump's public health order that closes the border to almost all asylum¹⁰ seekers.

Some families with young children are also being let into the United States. That is partly because one Mexican border state, Tamaulipas, would not accept their return.

However, Biden administration officials have urged migrants not to make the dangerous trip north. They explain that the border is not open and that most people crossing the border illegally will be sent back.

Keiby is a 17-year-old woman from Honduras. She was the first among Mayra's group to arrive at the border wall. There was an open gate with no patrol¹¹ agents, so she walked through and sat down to rest. She had heard she could be sent to a shelter for a few weeks before rejoining her family in the United States.

She was excited to reunite with her mother, whom she had not seen for 14 years. "Now it's finally real" she said. "Thank God."

Members of the U.S. military arrived in a truck and offered water to the migrants. A border patrol truck also arrived and agents stepped out.

Then more agents arrived, separating the unaccompanied children, mostly teens, from those traveling as families.

The border patrol agents lined up the minors likely to be traveling without adult guardians¹² against large vehicles. They sat the families against the wall.

Mayra stood at the end of the line of minors. Worried and crying, she fed Marvin and waited for border patrol agents.

She said she has family members in New York and would like to start a life there in order to provide for her child. She also wants to send money back to her mother in Guatemala to buy medicine.

"I hope they'll let me go to my sister," she said.

Words in This Story

migrant –n. a person who goes from place to place especially to find work

raft –n. a flat structure used to float on water like a boat

custody –n. the state of being held by officials of the law; a state of being detained¹³ or held for protective reasons

humane –adj. kind or gentle to people or animals

patrol –n. people or vehicles that go through an area to make sure it is secure

gate –n. an entrance in a fence or wall

unaccompanied –adj. without another person; alone; without someone who is responsible

minor⁵ –n. a person who is not yet old enough to be considered an adult

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

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 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

5 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

6 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 humane   

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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 patrol   

v.巡逻，巡查；n.巡逻，巡查，巡逻队

参考例句：

• They attacked two soldiers on patrol.他们袭击了两名正在巡逻的士兵。
• Policemen patrol the streets.警察在街上巡逻。

12 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

13 detained   

留住( detain的过去式和过去分词 )； 耽搁； 拘留； 扣留

参考例句：

• One man has been detained for questioning. 一个男人被拘留审问。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group. 他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。