VOA标准英语2015--Immigrants in Iowa Eye US Election Race Anxiously

Immigrants in Iowa Eye US Election Race Anxiously

PERRY, IOWA—

It took Carlos Barco more than a decade to save enough money to start his popular Salvadoran restaurant in a prime location in Perry, Iowa.

Business is good, but he’s worried he could lose it all if a U.S. presidential candidate committed to deporting² illegal immigrants wins the election next year.

“I would think it would actually affect me also,” he says in Spanish as his daughter translates. “Since I only have a work permit, so I think they will affect the whole community that has just a work permit, that we could all get deported³.”

Barco left El Salvador in 1992, and came to the United States to make a better life for his family. He obtained a work permit that helped him get a job at the nearby Tyson food plant outside Perry.

Magnet for immigrants

The plant has been a magnet for immigrants seeking work in the United States, and has helped transform this small Iowa town of about 7,500 people.

It is easy to see the changing demographics in Perry’s downtown business district, which is dotted with Mexican and Central American restaurants, bakeries, and merchandise stores.

“Probably about forty percent Hispanic,” says local business owner Steve Parnell, a member of the group Hispanics United for Perry. “There’s a small percentage of Sudanese and other immigrants, Asians.”

Parnell owns a music store across the street from Barco’s restaurant, and right next door to a Mexican restaurant. As he plays one of the dozens of guitars on display in his showroom, he explains his stance on the issues facing Iowa voters this year.

Parnell considers himself a conservative, undecided voter -- the kind of voter Republican candidates need to win over to succeed in the Iowa caucuses⁵ next year, and ultimately, the race for president.

Right now, Parnell says, he is leaning toward supporting Republican candidate Dr. Ben Carson because of what he is hearing from other candidates such as Donald Trump⁶, who wants to deport¹ as many as 11 million illegal immigrants.

“If Mr. Trump were to get the nomination⁷ and run against the Democratic candidate,” says Parnell “he would have to come up with some more realistic plans, some more viable⁸ plans, in order to be elected.”

Presidential candidates

New Jersey⁹ Governor Chris Christie, another Republican presidential candidate, agrees with Parnell, saying it simply isn't feasible to deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

"That’s 15,000 people a day, every day, for two years. There’s just not enough law enforcement to be able to do that,” he told reporters at the opening of his campaign headquarters near the Iowa state capitol, Des Moines. “All this sounds great when you are standing¹⁰ up on a stage pontificating. We have to be honest with people. You can’t just tell them what they want to hear.”

Christie also says the problem with illegal immigration cannot be resolved by closing the U.S. border with Mexico. “The 11 million folks, 40 percent of them came in by coming in on visas and overstaying their visas.”

Christie says concerns over illegal immigration are not isolated¹¹ to those he is hearing from in the early voting state of Iowa, where according to the 2010 U.S. Census¹², just over 5 percent of the population is Hispanic or Latino. “It’s a big issue to people all across the country. Republican primary voters are very concerned.”

“I would like all the candidates to address this issue in a stable and realistic way” says Swallow Yan, president of an advocacy group called U.S. Education Without Borders. “There is a long-term accumulation of issues and you need to have a long-term plan.”

Yan attended Christie’s campaign event to hear more about his views on immigration. “I consider immigration a big issue and I want all of the candidates to address this issue fairly and in the long term. I don’t think the deportation¹³ of many people is realistic,” he said.

'Still learning'

Yan came to Iowa 24 years ago and is now a U.S. citizen. He actively¹⁴ participates in Iowa’s complicated caucus⁴ process, as well as general elections in the state.

“I’m still learning,” he explains. “I try to know more about candidates so I have not made a decision yet.”

But restaurant owner Carlos Barco will have no say in a decision that could change his life. He is not a U.S. citizen, and can’t vote in the Iowa caucuses, or the general election next November. His wife and one of his daughters also remain in the U.S. on work visas, while only his youngest daughter is a U.S. citizen.

If he were deported, he says, “I would lose everything because I haven’t been to my country in 15 years, I don’t know anyone there. I don’t have many things that I have here in the United States.”

1 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

2 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

3 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》

4 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

5 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

8 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

9 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

12 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

13 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。

14 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。