美洲－国会考虑加强美国边界安全

 

Congress Considers Enhancing US Border Security

 

Despite tighter border enforcement since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the number of illegal immigrants in the United States continues to grow steadily¹.

 

A study released this month by the Pew Hispanic Center, a private research group in Washington, estimates the number of undocumented immigrants at 10.3 million as of March 2004, an increase of 23 percent from the 8.4 million estimate in 2000. The report said more than 50 percent of the growth was attributable to Mexican nationals living illegally in the United States.

 

Intelligence and Homeland Security Department officials are concerned that potential terrorists could enter the country along with other illegal immigrants.

 

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Porter Goss at a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

 

Porter Goss: I think that is a very serious problem, and I think it is not just our southern border, it is any border. And it is part of the debate we have to have in our country about how does free a democratic open society go about the business of protecting itself from people who want to do us damage who are not willing to play by any rules of society. It is a very difficult question.

 

President Bush, at Wednesday's summit in Texas, agreed.

 

President Bush: There are some million people a day crossing the border from Mexico into the United States, which presents a common issue, and that is how do we make sure those crossing the border are not terrorists or drug runners or gun runners or smugglers.

 

Officials say there is reason for concern, citing an increase in what is called Other Than Mexican category of arrests along the southwestern border. More than 41,000 arrests were made in this category.

 

Border patrol officials say more than 90 percent were from Latin America.

 

And Federal Bureau of Investigation⁴ Director Robert Mueller told a congressional hearing earlier this month that last year nearly 700 of those arrested at the southwest border were designated special interest aliens because they came from countries where the State Department says terrorist groups are known to operate, many of them in the Middle East.

 

Senator John McCain of Arizona, whose state lies on the southwest border.

 

John McCain: I am worried about our border. We have now hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people who are crossing illegally every year. And we are now seeing a larger number of people who are crossing our southern border who are from countries of interest, as opposed to just Latin America.

 

Congress has taken steps to secure the border, passing legislation last year authorizing⁵ the doubling of the number of border patrol officers in five years to 20 thousand. They are also considering other measures, including requiring additional training for border guards and immigration inspectors⁷.

 

But Tom Walters, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection assistant commissioner⁸, told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee this month that the situation has improved since the September 11, 2001 attacks, although he acknowledged that more can be done.

 

Tom Walters: We’ve never paid more attention to our borders than we are paying to our borders right now. If we are not quite there yet, we are on the way. We’ve increased the number of border patrol agents, we’ve increased the technology on the ground, we’ve increased the amount of training and the kinds of training we are getting, we've changed the entire organization, including the border patrol, to focus on the prevention of the entry of terrorist weapons and terrorists as a first priority of all the traditional missions.

 

Besides concerns over who is entering the country illegally, lawmakers are also worried about other gaps in the immigration system.

 

Only two of the 27 so-called visa-waiver countries, whose citizens can enter the United States without visas, are expected to meet the October 26th deadline for having new machine-readable passports. The date was extended from October of last year.

 

Senator Dianne Feinstein is a California Democrat².

 

Dianne Feinstein: In my view in this world today is we ought to know who is coming into our country with reasonable certainty.  And I do not think that is too much to ask of a visa-waiver country.

 

Another issue troubling lawmakers is how to ensure that foreign visitors who enter the United States legally leave the country when their visas expire.

 

Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, notes that as many as 40-percent of the illegal immigrants in the United States entered the country legally but overstayed their visas.

 

Elaine Dezenski, acting⁹ assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transportation Security Policy and Planning, told his panel this month that the United States is not yet able to ensure that those whose visas expire actually leave the country. She said the U.S.-Visit program, a new system for tracking arrivals and departures of foreign visitors, is not yet fully¹⁰ operational

 

But responding to Ms. Dezenski, Senator Cornyn expressed doubt as to whether any new system would be able to identify foreigners who overstay their visas.

 

Senator Cornyn: U.S. Visit the exit feature of the U.S. Visit when it is implemented¹¹, it is not yet implemented, will allow us to know when somebody leaves, right?

 

Ms. Dezensk: That is correct.

 

Senator Cornyn: But for somebody who does not leave, it is not going to tell us where they are or how to find them, will it?

 

Ms. Dezensk: No, but that is a very difficult problem.

 

Senator Cornyn plans another hearing on border security and immigration concerns on April 6.

 

注释:

enforcement [in5fC:smEnt] n. 执行，强制

immigrant [5imi^rEnt] n. 移民

Pew Hispanic Center “普优西语裔研究中心”

undocumented [7Qn5dCkjumentid] adj. 无正式文件的

attribute to 归因于

Intelligence and Homeland Security Department 情报与国土安全部

Central Intelligence Agency 美国中央情报局

Senate Armed Services Committee 参议院武装部队委员会

democratic [7demE5krAtik] adj. 民主的

smuggler³ [5smQ^lE(r)] n. 走私者

Federal Bureau of Investigation（美国）联邦调查局

legislation [7ledVis5leiFEn] n. 立法

inspector⁶ [in5spektE] n. 检查员

US Customs and Border Protection（CBP）美国海关和边防局

Visa Waiver 免签证计划

1 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 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。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 authorizing   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证：从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
• Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。

6 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

7 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

9 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。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句