美国国家公共电台 NPR Julián Castro Wants To Redefine Which Immigrants Have 'Merit'

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Presidential candidate Julian Castro has a plan to change immigration law, and he doesn't seem worried about who attacks it. The Democrat¹ from Texas says crossing the border illegally should no longer be a crime. The former Cabinet secretary is a descendant of Mexican immigrants. And he says if he's elected, he'd completely rethink immigration. He talked to Steve Inskeep as we hear candidates' opening arguments.

STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE²: Why shouldn't crossing the border illegally be a criminal act?

JULIAN CASTRO: For a long time in this country, we actually did not treat crossing the border as a criminal act. We treated it as a civil violation³.

INSKEEP: Like a parking ticket.

CASTRO: That's right. You still have a court process. You still have to answer for the transgression⁴, but it was treated like a civil violation. A lot of the problems that we see in the system today flared⁵ up after we started treating it as a criminal offense⁶.

INSKEEP: But what do you say to someone listening who thinks well, you know, traveling thousands of miles and crossing the U.S. border sounds more serious than a parking ticket to me.

CASTRO: I would say that the folks who are coming to the southern border are coming because they're absolutely desperate. They can't find safety and opportunity in their home country.

INSKEEP: I want to be clear that one reason you say you want to decriminalize border crossing is because if it's not considered a criminal act, someone is not going to be put in detention⁷ for being caught. And you specifically say you want to end detention for border crossing. Does that mean your policy is catch and release?

CASTRO: What it means is that we're not going to, you know, separate little children from their families. Yeah, we're not going to routinely put people in detention. Now, if somebody has committed a crime, then, of course, you're still going to sometimes have the ability to detain somebody.

But let's just say, you know, a mom that has come here with her little baby - I would not incarcerate⁸ those folks. I would not treat them as criminals.

INSKEEP: Meaning that you'd give them a court date and release them under the United States...

CASTRO: ...Yeah, I mean, and the fact is that we have - so we actually have ways that have been established to ensure that people actually return for their court dates because a lot of people ask, well, hey, look. You know, what are you talking about? If you just let these folks go, aren't they going to go off and never return for their court date? Well, actually, people actually recognize that they have a responsibility.

INSKEEP: Most people - you're correct. In whatever program, most people do show up for their court dates. And yet, this does raise a question. If you're saying that everybody who crosses the border illegally - they get put in the system. They have an eventual⁹ court date, but they're going to be released into the country. Is there a downside to that message getting back to Central America? - that anybody who comes up to the United States will check in with a border patrol officer and then be released into the country.

CASTRO: I see the two as unrelated. If people could find safety and opportunity in their home country, they would stay in their home country. So what we need to do if we want a long-term solution to this is we need to get smart. We need to invest in a 21st century Marshall Plan for Honduras, for El Salvador, for Guatemala.

I don't think that there's much of anything else that is going to impact the numbers of people coming other than whether people can find safety and opportunity in their home country.

INSKEEP: Is it OK with you if much larger numbers of people came? - because the immigration system changes and people realize they can find shelter in the United States.

CASTRO: No, I would prefer that they are able to find safety and opportunity in their home country.

INSKEEP: You have said you want to strengthen family reunification, meaning that if one person is here, they have an easier time getting relations to come. President Trump¹⁰, the other day, called for contracting family reunification and allowing more people in on a merit-based system. Are you moving in the opposite direction as the president on this?

CASTRO: I disagree with the president on this. First of all, I asked folks to think about what we consider a skilled job today. Do you think that you could go and spend 10 hours picking a crop in the fields of California? Do you think that you could spend 10 hours in 102 degree - underneath¹¹ the blaring sun, on a roof in Texas? That is skilled labor¹². But this merit system that the president has set up says that only certain people have merit.

My grandmother came over here when she was 7 years old with her little sister, in 1922, from Mexico with nothing. And they came over because their parents had died. I don't know that she ever would have made it in if we use the rules that this president wants to use. And yet, two generations later, one of her grandsons is a congressman¹³ and the other is a candidate for president of the United States.

INSKEEP: Do you think that Democrats¹⁴ are further left on immigration than they were five years ago, 10 years ago?

CASTRO: Well, I don't know, but I do think that my proposal has gotten a great reception out there among people who appreciate a different way to fix our broken immigration system because they see that what we get out of Trump is just this reactionary¹⁵ kind of macho talk that doesn't really get you anything.

INSKEEP: But here's why I ask. You've made proposals that Democratic officials have voted the other way on in the past. There was a time when Democrats voted for a lot more border security. A lot of Democrats voted for the fence - the hundreds of miles of fence - are the candidates of your party - are you specifically moving further left than Democrats, as an electorate¹⁶, really are?

CASTRO: I see myself as on the right path - the correct path to fix our system. And look. It's true that there have been bad policies that have come out of each party. I do think, generally, the Democrats have been a lot better on this issue of immigration, but they have made mistakes too. And, you know, I don't care first about what the party approach is. What I care about is getting this right for human beings.

INSKEEP: Let me ask a question about the way that you would govern if you were addressing super divisive issues like immigration or we could mention abortion¹⁷. We could mention climate change. We could mention a lot of things. In this environment, with the country so divided, is it even worth reaching out to the other side?

CASTRO: I think it's always worth reaching out to the other side.

INSKEEP: Well, it's always worth trying. But in practical terms, do you think you would actually make progress...

CASTRO: Well, I mean, we're going to try. I think you always have to try. And I came up, originally, through local government in a nonpartisan context. So I had to knock on the doors of people that were conservative. They were Republican. They didn't agree with me, so I'm used to that.

At the same time, I watched Mitch McConnell, over the eight years that President Obama was in office, do everything that he could to try and stop any kind of successes for President Obama. And so I'm not naive¹⁸. If the choice is between universal health care or fixing our broken immigration system or upholding a 60-vote filibuster¹⁹ rule that is nowhere in the Constitution, I'm going to choose actually making progress for the American people.

INSKEEP: Meaning that although it wouldn't be your choice - it would be up to the Senate - you would support eliminating the filibuster if you felt that that's the way you would get your program through Congress.

CASTRO: I would. I do believe that being in public office is all about making choices. And if I'm president, I would steer²⁰ this nation in the direction where we embrace progressive values.

INSKEEP: Secretary Castro, thanks so much.

CASTRO: Thanks a lot for having me.

1 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。

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 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

4 transgression   

n.违背；犯规；罪过

参考例句：

• The price can make an action look more like a transaction than a transgression.罚款让一个行为看起来更像是一笔交易而不是一次违法行为。
• The areas of transgression are indicated by wide spacing of the thickness contours.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。

5 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

6 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8 incarcerate   

v.监禁，禁闭

参考例句：

• Why do you incarcerate yourself in the room every afternoon?你为何每天下午将自己关在房间里？
• Many people think that it is wrong to incarcerate criminals in confined quarters for as long as thirty years.很多人认为把罪犯监禁在禁闭营里达30年之久是不对的。

9 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

10 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。

11 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

12 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。

13 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 reactionary   

n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的

参考例句：

• They forced thousands of peasants into their reactionary armies.他们迫使成千上万的农民参加他们的反动军队。
• The reactionary ruling clique was torn by internal strife.反动统治集团内部勾心斗角，四分五裂。

16 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

17 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

18 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

19 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

20 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。