美国国家公共电台 NPR Tension And Anxiety In Border Cities After Trump Threatens Closure

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

People cross the U.S.-Mexico border daily for work and school. We're going to go now to El Paso, where President Trump's threats to shut down the border earlier this week created anxiety and uncertainty¹ among many residents. Mallory Falk has this report from El Paso.

MALLORY FALK, BYLINE²: Step onto the campus at the University of Texas, El Paso, known as UTEP, and it doesn't take long to find students who live in El Paso's sister city Juarez and commute³ across the border to school like these two study buddies⁴.

CARLOS MEDINA: My name is Carlos Medina.

ALEJANDRA SALCIDO: My name is Alejandra Salcido.

FALK: They sit in a campus coffee shop prepping for an exam. Like nearly 1,000 other students here, Medina and Salcido have to cross an international bridge to get to class. Lately, that hasn't been easy.

MEDINA: Before all of the chaos⁵ happened with our border, it took me around 20 minutes to an hour depending on the day and the hour. But now it takes me from three to five hours.

FALK: Hundreds of Customs and Border Protection officials have been reassigned from their usual posts at ports of entry to help with the migrant families crossing the border in growing numbers. That's led to longer and more unpredictable wait times on the bridges. Salcido says it's all incredibly stressful. She even has a plan for what to do if the border gets shut down.

SALCIDO: I actually have clothes in my car in case I have to stay here. But I have an uncle here, so I can stay there. And the thing is that my son is in Juarez, so in case I have to stay here, he has to stay there, so we'll be separated.

FALK: She tears up at the prospect⁶ of spending time away from her 4-year-old.

CATIE MCCORRY-ANDALIS: You know, one of the things that's really special about this region of the country is we often don't see ourselves as two different countries.

FALK: Catie McCorry-Andalis is the dean of students at UTEP.

MCCORRY-ANDALIS: You know, a lot of this is the fear of the unknown. We just don't know what's going to happen.

FALK: The university is taking steps to support students and staff who live in Juarez like offering temporary housing on campus and virtual counselling services. There is a newly launched website with resources for border crossers and updates on the ports of entry. The impact extends far beyond the university. Nearly $1 billion in trade crosses the U.S.-Mexico border every day, much of it through El Paso.

JON BARELA: Shutting the bridges, closing the ports - all of those - even threats of doing so would have an absolutely devastating⁷ impact and would immediately cost the American economy tens of millions of dollars.

FALK: Jon Barela heads the Borderplex Alliance, an economic development nonprofit serving Juarez, El Paso and Las Cruces, N.M. He says this region depends on cross-border trade. Between 15 and 30 percent of retail⁸ trade alone comes from Mexican nationals who cross the border to go shopping or out to eat. But the rest of the country relies on that trade, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF HORN HONKING)

FALK: On the Mexican side of the Bridge of the Americas, lines of cars stretch far into the distance. The lines are so long the Mexican government set up port-a-potties. Victor Santana mans a fold-out table with hand sanitizer and a large ream of toilet paper.

VICTOR SANTANA: (Speaking Spanish).

FALK: We're providing free bathroom services, he says, because the wait time goes past four hours. Juan Manuel Sanchez (ph) sits in his stalled cargo⁹ truck, breeze rushing in through an open window. He's been here since 4:30 in the morning, he says - more than six hours.

JUAN MANUEL SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FALK: He says the wait was even longer yesterday. He wanted to make two delivery trips across the border, but that just wasn't possible. And that, he says, has an economic impact.

For NPR News, I'm Mallory Falk in El Paso.

1 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

4 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 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。