VOA慢速英语2021--年轻移民独自穿越美墨边境

After a 3,000-kilometer trip, 16-year-old Jose Luis Boyeduana arrived in the United States.

At the end of 2020, he decided¹ to travel from his home in Ecuador to reunite with his parents living in the U.S. It had been 13 years since he had seen them. Boyeduana had been living with his grandparents in Ecuador since he was three years old.

"Happiness can only be found with your parents," he said.

Boyeduana crossed in January through Miguel Aleman, an area in Mexico near the US-Mexico border. He said he was held for two months at a federal immigrant holding center in Roma, Texas.

Tens of thousands of children who are not with their families have been stopped at the U.S. border with Mexico in recent months. President Joe Biden's administration has struggled to find places to put them.

The U.S. government has opened about 14 new shelters to house immigrant children. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently told reporters his administration will also open shelters on the Mexican side of the border.

As of April 22, more than 23,000 migrant children were being held by the U.S. government.

These unaccompanied children arriving at the border must go through a two-step process before they are released to close relatives in the U.S. First, they are taken to a border patrol station. Within three days, they must be taken to the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services and placed in centers designed for children.

Under a new Biden administration policy, some children and families that cross the border without legal permission can stay. That is different from the policy of the administration of former President Donald Trump². The Biden administration is continuing to expel adult immigrants and families with older children.

U.S. officials returned Boyeduana to his mother and father in March. Both live in the United States. The parents had to prove they were his legal guardians⁴.

"This happiness is forever, being with my son," said Carlos Lozada, Boyeduana's father.

The message is to wait

The Biden administration has said that many migrants crossing the border will not be successful if they choose to seek asylum⁵.

Roberta Jacobson is a Biden administration official. She is telling immigrants that many people seeking asylum will be sent back.

"So really the message is to wait because there will be more options," she told VOA.

To seek asylum in the United States, a person must prove they faced mistreatment in their home country for at least one of five reasons. Those reasons are race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion.

Why they leave

Immigrants have many reasons for coming to the United States. But these may or may not meet the standards for asylum protection.

Many people crossing the border illegally say they want to escape violence, poverty and even natural disasters. Many places in Central America, for example, have been affected⁶ by hurricanes.

Eda Cristelia Melendez is a Honduran in her 70s. She is currently living with her young granddaughter in a shelter in Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

She said U.S. officials sent her granddaughter and her back to Mexico after they tried to cross the border. The girl's mother told Melendez to send the child across the border by herself. Melendez refused.

"‘Have you thought [of what could happen] if the girl goes alone?'" she remembered asking.

U.S. officials agree with the grandmother's concerns.

Emily Mendrala is with the State Department Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. She said, "We're working with partners...to deter⁷ the dangerous travel of those unaccompanied children."

Republican lawmakers in Congress blame the Biden administration for the increase in border arrivals.

Representative John Katko is a Republican from New York and member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. He said he warned the Biden administration of quickly changing immigration policy.

We "warned of this impending⁸ crisis months ago," he said.

Words in This Story

unaccompanied –adj. without another person; alone

guardian³ –n. someone who takes care of another person or of another person's property

option –n. the ability to choose between two or more things

expensive – adj. costing a lot of money

standard -n. : a level of quality or set of conditions that must be met in order to be accepted

deter-v. to cause (someone) to decide not to do something

impending-adj. happening or likely to happen soon

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

8 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。