2006年VOA标准英语-Immigration Debate Stirring on Both Sides

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
06 May 2006

The immigration debate is heating up on both sides of the Atlantic, pitting advocates for legalizing illegal immigrants against those who support stronger anti-immigration measures.  In the United States, more than a million people marched last week to demand greater immigrant rights.  The welcome mat is vanishing for immigrants in large parts of Western Europe, at least for low-skilled foreign workers, living in the region illegally.

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At breakfast for the homeless at Saint Hippolyte Roman Catholic church in Paris, Algerian immigrant Amirouche Laradjane munches¹ on a thick slice of bread as he discusses new French legislation aimed at tightening² immigration rules.

Laradjane, who has been living illegally in France for the past three years, calls the draft bill shameful³.  He says France's center-right government is fascist⁴.  And he says the bill's author, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who is of Hungarian extraction, had forgotten his own immigrant roots.

The immigration legislation is now being examined by France's parliament.  If passed, it would make it harder for illegal foreigners like Laradjane to gain residency, and for families of immigrants to settle here.  The bill also aims to select out highly skilled workers from blue-collared ones like Laradjane, who works in construction.

 
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy
  
Sarkozy says the bill will reduce rising anti-immigration sentiments in France, while also responding to skilled labor⁵ shortages in certain economic sectors⁶.  He describes the legislation as balanced and just.

But critics call the bill mean-spirited and unfair. Christian⁷ churches have taken a leading role in demanding the legislation be softened⁸. Clerics like Francis Barjot, parish priest at Saint Hippolyte, worry about the future of illegal immigrants in France.

Father Barjot believes the legislation will pass. He fears that in a few years France will enact⁹ even tougher legislation against illegal immigrants, forcing them to sink even further in the shadows.

Many French churches have offered shelter to these illegal immigrants, including Saint Hippolyte, located in a heavily Chinese neighborhood in southern Paris. Last week, 150 foreigners came there to seek a place to stay, and to air their protests against the immigration legislation.  Father Barjot took them in, offering a bed to some and free breakfast to everyone.

As he sipped¹⁰ a large bowl of coffee and milk, Bakari Coulibali, 45, said he was grateful for the church's generosity¹¹.

I thank these Christians¹², says Coulibali, who is a Muslim from Bamako, Mali. In the morning, we all get coffee and a piece of bread.  What do we have besides this, he asks? Nothing.

A one-time farmer outside Bamako, Coulibali emigrated to France 16 years ago, hoping to find a better job and life. He has found work here and there -- in construction, cleaning houses, emptying trash. But today, Coulibali is homeless and without legal working papers, his future is bleak¹³.

"I want legal papers to work like everyone else," he said.  "We want our papers."

France is not alone in trying to select out its immigrants.  Increasingly, experts say, European governments are introducing new immigration tests and other screening devices to attract only the brightest and most qualified¹⁴ workers. In principle at least, the attitudes toward unqualified and illegal foreigners is hardening, says Daniele Joly, head of the Centre for Research in Ethnic¹⁵ Relations, at the University of Warwick, in England.

"There is a general trend of regulating and restricting immigration, and in particular asylum¹⁶ [seekers]," she said.  "But also illegal immigration. The door, in appearance, is closed to immigration and the discourse¹⁷ of politicians is very hostile to immigration."

The Netherlands and Germany have passed new screening tests to draw in skilled workers and those who share their social and political values. The European Union is also considering a similar integration¹⁸ contract.

Spain and Greece have granted amnesty to several million illegal immigrants, but they continue to ship many others home.  Even countries like Denmark, with a history of openness toward immigrants, are closing up their borders.

Unlike the United States, fear of tighter immigration restrictions¹⁹ has not sparked massive rallies in Europe. Han Entzinger, an immigration expert at Erasmus University Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, explains why.

"Illegal immigrants are very poorly organized, almost by definition. And no one takes an interest in them," he said.  "This has to do with general anti-immigration feelings. It's very difficult to find an organization that defends the rights of illegal immigrants."

In France, high unemployment and last autumn's riots by ethnic immigrant youths have sharpened anti-immigration sentiments.  Many recent surveys show strong support for tighter immigration measures, the bread and butter rhetoric²⁰ of the far right.

Indeed, a poll published Friday in Le Figaro magazine found Jean-Marie Le Pen, head of the far-right National Front party, coasting on an 18 percent approval rating -- slightly higher than in 2002, when he placed second in French presidential elections.  Le Pen, 77, is now stumping²¹ for next years presidential race with a new slogan: "France, Love It or Leave It."

Sarkozy, another presidential hopeful, is also borrowing some of Le Pen's rhetoric, experts say.

Anti-immigration sentiments are similarly feeding far-right parties in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and Britain -- where the British National Party doubled its number of local councilors in English elections Thursday.

Still, immigration experts like Daniele Joly say the tough talk in Europe is not always matched by action.  Britain, for example, delivered 400,000 work permits to immigrants last year alone.  At the end of the day, she says, European politicians and economists²² realize, with the continent's population declining, they need more immigration, including unskilled workers.

1 munches   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He tried to talk between munches on the sandwich. 他试图在吃三明治的当间儿讲话。 来自互联网
• A flying squirrel munches a meal on terra firma. 一只鼯鼠在地上贪婪的咀嚼着它的食物。 来自互联网

2 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

3 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

4 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

9 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

10 sipped   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
• I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句

11 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

12 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

13 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

14 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

15 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。

16 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。

17 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

18 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

19 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

20 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

21 stumping   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的现在分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• She's tired of stumping up for school fees, books and uniform. 她讨厌为学费、课本和校服掏腰包。
• But Democrats and Republicans are still dumping stumping for the young. 但是民主党和共和党依然向年轻人发表演说以争取他们的支持。

22 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》