pbs高端访谈:8位参议员最后调整移民改革法案细节

 　　GWEN IFILL:The political push for overhauling² the nation's immigration system gains new momentum³.

　　REP. XAVIER BECERRA, D-Calif.: I suspect we're all here to send a very clear message: We are ready.

　　GWEN IFILL:California Democrat⁴ Xavier Becerra led other supporters of comprehensive immigration reform in a Capitol Hill rally today.

　　Inside the Capitol, a bipartisan group of eight senators put the finishing touches on legislation to overhaul¹ the system expected to be unveiled tomorrow.

　　Florida Republican Marco Rubio, one of the members of the so-called gang of eight, described the plan Sunday on seven talk shows.

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　　SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-Fla.: I think it's important to understand it doesn't give anything. It allows people access to the legal immigration system.

　　Number two, some people won't qualify. They haven't been here long enough. They have committed very serious crimes. They won't be able to stay. Number three is, all people will get is the opportunity to apply for thing, to apply for a legal status, which isn't awarded on day one. I mean, there's a process for that.

　　GWEN IFILL:Although it has not been formerly⁵ introduced, it's been widely reported that the legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship⁶ for the estimated 11 million undocumented people now in the country and establish a 10-year process for obtaining a green card. Gaining full citizenship would take another three years.

　　Applicants⁷ would have to pay a fine and back taxes, learn English, and pass a criminal background check, among other hurdles⁹. Rubio says that system would be triggered only if certain border security benchmarks are met.

　　MARCO RUBIO:That means securing the border, universal E-Verify and the universal entry-exit tracking system. If those three things are not in place, that green card process won't begin even if the 10 years has elapsed.

　　GWEN IFILL:But even with those assurances, some Republicans were skeptical¹⁰, including Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.

　　SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, R-Ala.: No, I'm not convinced. I know Sen. Rubio's heart is exactly right. And I really respect the work of the gang of eight. But they have produced legislation, it appears, that will give amnesty now, legalize everyone that is here effectively today, and then there's a promise of enforcement in the future.

　　GWEN IFILL:White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today the administration believes it's possible to satisfy concerns on both sides.

　　JAY CARNEY, White House Press Secretary: These are compatible ideas, enhancing border security, allowing for a clear path to citizenship that requires a number of very specific steps. So, the president is very pleased with the progress we have seen thus far.

　　GWEN IFILL:Once the bill is formerly rolled out tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its first hearing later this week.

　　To help us sort through the next steps, we're joined by Brian Bennett. He covers immigration for the Los Angeles Times.

　　Brian, what was it that the bipartisan group has now agreed to and what are the issues that are still outstanding?

　　BRIAN BENNETT, Los Angeles Times: So, the bipartisan group plans to unveil their bill tomorrow, on Tuesday probably, maybe as soon as tomorrow.

　　And they have agreed on almost all the major points. They're still fine-tuning the bill today will unveil what they have decided¹¹ on tomorrow. And so the main points are that there will be a legalization program for the 11 million people who are here without papers or who have overstayed their visas. And this program would start about six months after the bill is passed, after the Department of Homeland Security has outlined a way to secure the border.

　　And people will be able to apply, pay a fine, go through a criminal background check and apply to get legal status. And over the next 10 years, the U.S. would spend a lot of money on enhanced border security. And there would be a requirement that a certain certification was made on border security.

　　And, after that point, if those requirements were met on border security and a few other factors, then those people who were legalized would be eligible¹² to apply for green cards and eventually become citizens.

　　GWEN IFILL:I want to circle back to some of the points you made. But let's start by talking about visas, this whole question of work visas.

　　Is that only for high-tech¹³ workers, or also for agricultural workers? That's been a sticking point along the way.

　　BRIAN BENNETT:This has.

　　So, one of the main things that the senators wanted to tackle in this bill was, how do you manage the future flow of immigrants so that you don't have as much pressure on the border of people wanting to come over illegally to find work? And so they have created a couple of work visa programs in the bill.

　　And one is for farmworkers. Over 50 percent of farmworkers in the United States came here illegally or overstayed their visas. And the bill would create a new visa system that would allow farmers to hire farmworkers from overseas.

　　Also, for the farmworkers who are already here, they would have a—if they stayed in agriculture work, they would have an expedited path to legal—to get a green card. And then when it comes to low-skilled workers, people like housekeepers¹⁴, meat-packers, janitors¹⁵, there's another new visa program that would be established as well to accommodate work shortages here in the United States.

　　GWEN IFILL:And that's different from the highly educated workers who the tech companies have been agitating¹⁶ to allow more of them in the country, right?

　　BRIAN BENNETT:And then there are also provisions in the bill to bring in more tech workers.

　　So, it would approximately double the number of slots that are currently available for high-skilled workers to try to satisfy the needs of Silicon¹⁷ Valley and other tech companies that want to hire more workers with advanced degrees.

　　GWEN IFILL:So, let's go back to the border security issue. That's been one thing that everybody, at least rhetorically, agrees about, that there ought to be, if not higher fences, at least higher enforcement along—tougher enforcement along the border.

　　Is that something which is now settled?

　　BRIAN BENNETT:It is essentially¹⁸ settled for this group of senators. We will see what happens when they roll it out to the other 92 senators in the Senate.

　　But this group of senators has decided that they have come up with a solution for border security and that they feel will help secure the border and prevent illegal immigrants from crossing in the coming years.

　　And what it essentially does is increases dramatically the amount of surveillance on the border and tries to get to a point where border security can respond to people crossing the border in a very quick way.

　　GWEN IFILL:Isn't there some disagreement at this point about how severe a problem it really is at this point?

　　BRIAN BENNETT:There is.

　　The White House and the Obama administration says that the border is more secure than it's been in 40 years and that spending more money on border security is not really necessary. And their also -- their follow-on point would be that by creating a legalization program and also by creating a way for people to come legally into the U.S. to work, that you take some of the pressure off the border.

　　And, you know, that said, there's been frustration¹⁹ among people who have seen these efforts go before without really trying to clamp down on the border and create a legalization program.

　　GWEN IFILL:And, Brian, what also feels different this time is we have gotten used to seeing rallies like the one we saw on Capitol Hill today with the same usual suspects saying it's time for immigration reform.

　　But it feels like this time like other people are on that bandwagon, including members of the larger faith community.

　　BRIAN BENNETT:The political environment is a lot different than it was, say, in 2007, the last time Congress took up an effort to overhaul the nation's immigration laws.

　　Right now, we have evangelical leaders who have signed on and said, look, there's a religious imperative²⁰ to embrace the stranger and to reach out and help people who are in our community. And, on the Republican side, you have what they call a coalition²¹ of Bibles, badges and business. You have faith leaders. You also have law enforcement leaders, attorney general from the states, and other sheriffs, and business leaders who are saying, look, it's time to come—our system is broken. It's time to come and fix the system.

　　So, on the Republican side, they're getting pressure from some of these core constituents²² to come up with a solution.

　　GWEN IFILL:And is it fair to say, after seeing his kind of tour de force on the Sunday talk shows yesterday, that Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican, is the face of this? Or are there other—is there other agitation²³ going on, especially over in the House?

　　BRIAN BENNETT:So, Marco Rubio is seen as essential to presenting this bill to conservative members of the Republican Caucus²⁴, because here's Marco Rubio. He was elected to his Senate seat in 2010 on a wave of Tea Party support.

　　And we will see if he's successful at trying to bring a lot of the conservatives in the Republican Caucus along board. There's a big hurdle⁸ in the House going forward. And the effort in the Senate is to try to get a bill passed with a lot of bipartisan votes to try to put pressure on the House to come up with either their own bill or to take up the Senate version.

　　GWEN IFILL:Which some members of the House are working on, I gather?

　　BRIAN BENNETT:That's right. So, there are about eight members of the House, four from each party, that have been working for several months on drafting their own legislation.

　　And that bill, they're going to take a look at what the Senate came up with, and they may present their own version of an immigration overhaul in the coming weeks.

　　GWEN IFILL:OK. Brian Bennett of the L.A. Times, we know you will be watching, and we will too.

　　BRIAN BENNETT:Happy to be on. Thanks.

　　GWEN IFILL:Online, we're kicking off a week of conversations on the evolving immigration debate. First up, Hari Sreenivasan talks to Shawn Moran of the National Border Patrol Council.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

3 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

4 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。

5 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

6 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

7 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

8 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

9 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

10 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

13 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

14 housekeepers   

n.（女）管家( housekeeper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Can you send up one of your housekeepers to make bed? 请你派个女服务员来整理床铺好吗？ 来自互联网
• They work as gas station attendants, firemen, housekeepers,and security personnel. 本句翻译：机器人也能够作为煤气站的服务员，救火队员等保安作用。 来自互联网

15 janitors   

n.看门人( janitor的名词复数 )；看管房屋的人；锅炉工

参考例句：

• The janitors were always kicking us out. 守卫总是将～踢出去。 来自互联网
• My aim is to be one of the best janitors in the world. 我的目标是要成为全世界最好的守门人。 来自互联网

16 agitating   

搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论

参考例句：

• political groups agitating for social change 鼓吹社会变革的政治团体
• They are agitating to assert autonomy. 他们正在鼓吹实行自治。

17 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

18 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

19 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

20 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

21 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

22 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

24 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。