VOA标准英语2013--Report: Billions Spent on US Immigration Enforcement Have Impact

 

Report: Billions Spent on US Immigration Enforcement Have Impact

Like so many people in the United States, Claudia Hernandez wakes up every day, goes to work and comes home to take care of her children.

Only Hernandez is not a U.S. citizen.

"I came when I was 13 years old, to California. I was, of course, illegal," she said. "I was living in California for about 20 years and then I came to Maryland 10 years ago."

And after decades living and working in the U.S., the law finally caught up with her. She was facing deportation¹.

"If I was going to be deported², then who was going to take care of my kids? Who was going to see that my daughter goes to school every day, that she's healthy, that she's fine, that she eats," said Hernandez. "Where is she going to go to sleep?"

With more money being spent on enforcement, deportations have more than doubled over the past decade, according to the Immigration Policy Center, a non-partisan research group.

Groups that help immigrants adjust in the U.S. say there's more fallout.

"The enforcement factor does play a role and what it more plays a role into is migrants using smugglers and going into organized crime to seek assistance to cross the border," said Jaime Farrant, executive director of Ayuda, which provides legal services to immigrants.

Along the border with Mexico, recent violence has sparked renewed concern.

Volunteers from Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project used to help patrol the border until it became too dangerous. Gilchrist says the $18 billion spent last year on enforcement is not nearly enough.

"You're still seeing a rampant³ intrusion of vehicles bringing drugs or human cargo⁴ in or foot traffic bringing drugs and human cargo in," he said.

There's no shortage of emotion when it comes to immigration and previous efforts at reform have stalled. But there seems to be a growing consensus⁵ in Congress that it may be time to try again.

George Mason University Professor David Hart hopes that's the case.

"We also need to talk about the numbers of people who come to the country, what kinds of people we want immigrating⁶ to the country, and we haven't really been able to have those discussions because we've been hung up on the border," he said.

As for Claudia Hernandez, she considers herself lucky. She fought deportation and won and is now a legal immigrant and she's dreaming of one day becoming a U.S. citizen.

"Of course, I've been here more than half of my life, and I respect the United States," she said. "This is my country." 

1 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

2 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

6 immigrating   

v.移入( immigrate的现在分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• I have to tie up loose ends before immigrating to America. 移民美国前，我先要处理手头上的一些琐事。 来自互联网
• Marrying an American citizen is a guaranteed ticket to immigrating to America. 与美国公民结婚是移民美国最佳的门票。 来自互联网