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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The U.S. isn't the only country struggling with migrants from Central America. Mexico's president recently announced plans to crack down on the illegal flow of people into his country. He wants to strengthen security along Mexico's southern border with Guatemala. That has human rights advocates worried. They say the country's immigration service is already strained and has a reputation for abuse. NPR's Carrie Kahn has this story about several migrants who claim they were abused. And a warning - some details in this story may be upsetting to listeners.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE2: Nicaraguan Elvis Ariel Lorio moved to Mexico four years ago. He says, last year, he couldn't pay his visa fee, and it expired. Immigration officials came looking for him at his job in Mexico City.
ELVIS ARIEL LORIO: (Through translator) The officer grabbed me by the neck. He squeezed me hard and really hurt me. I said to him, sir, with all due respect, please don't treat me that way. That's not even how a dog should be treated.
KAHN: Lorio spoke3 to me by phone. He's currently staying with a priest who helps migrants in southern Mexico.
LORIO: (Spanish spoken).
KAHN: He says, the officer struck in the chest, put him in a squad4 car and took him to Mexico City's immigrant detention5 facility, the largest in the country. Lorio says, he was strip-searched, struck several more times and detained with MS-13 gang members. Lorio says, he repeatedly stood up to officers, condemned6 conditions and treatment and demanded to speak with a Nicaraguan Council representative. Soon after, he got a chilling threat.
LORIO: (Through translator) One day, as I was taken back to my cell, an officer said to me, Elvis, remember what I'm telling you. It's either your silence or your life.
KAHN: Two days later, Lorio says, hooded7 officers removed immigrants for his cellblock and lined them up. He says, he was taken to a room, forced to strip, perform demeaning exercises and eventually restrained and raped8. Two days later, he was deported9 back to Nicaragua. He says, he returned to Mexico to seek justice and has filed a formal complaint.
NPR was unable to obtain a copy of the complaint from Mexican officials. The priest helping10 him declined to provide a copy, saying only that the case was very delicate. And it's difficult to confirm Lorio story. Immigration officials have declined repeated requests for interviews. Multiple requests to Mexico's Interior Department, which oversees11 the National Immigration Service, were also denied.
In the past four years, Mexico's Human Rights Commission has detailed12 abuses in the country's detention facilities, ranging from unlawful, lengthy13 detentions14 to a case last year of a drunk guard raping15 16-year-old Honduran girl.
Few human rights advocates are allowed into Mexico's detention centers. Carolina Carreno with Sin Fronteras, a non-governmental advocacy group, is allowed scheduled visits, but she says, authorities restrict her movements.
CAROLINA CARRENO: (Spanish spoken).
KAHN: Carreno says, detainees complain of multiple abuses. They aren't reformed about their cases, repeatedly held longer than allowed by law and guards take bribes16 to bring in everything from cigarettes to cell phones. And Carreno says, authorities were not prepared for the surge of migrant minors18 who've recently come through Mexico.
CARRENO: (Spanish spoken).
KAHN: She says, minors younger than 15 are supposed be transferred to Child Protective Services. But, she says, she's seen children as young as 12 and 13 detained and even housed with adults. More minor17 children have been deported from Mexico in the first half of this year than all of last year. Of the more than 8,000 Central American minors deported last year, only 50 were granted asylum19. Sergio Aguayo, a Mexico City political science professor, says, the government has a schizophrenic attitude about migration1.
SERGIO AGUAYO: We criticize how the U.S. treats our immigrants, and we deny how we treat Central Americans.
KAHN: Authorities say, they're working to clean up the immigration system. Sergio Alcocer is Mexico's undersecretary of foreign relations. He says, the government's new plan to beef up border security will better control the number of people passing through Mexico.
SERGIO ALCOCER: Having a larger number of these migrants - it doesn't help, in terms of the quality of service that we can provide.
KAHN: Human rights advocates are skeptical20 that the treatment of Central American migrants will approve. In the National Human Rights Commission's last report, it expressed great concern for, quote, "the lack of interest or incapacity of authorities to resolve this neglected problem." Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Mexico City
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1 migration | |
n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙 | |
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2 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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3 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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4 squad | |
n.班,小队,小团体;vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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5 detention | |
n.滞留,停留;拘留,扣留;(教育)留下 | |
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6 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7 hooded | |
adj.戴头巾的;有罩盖的;颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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8 raped | |
v.以暴力夺取,强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 );强奸 | |
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9 deported | |
v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 );举止 | |
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10 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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11 oversees | |
v.监督,监视( oversee的第三人称单数 ) | |
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12 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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13 lengthy | |
adj.漫长的,冗长的 | |
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14 detentions | |
拘留( detention的名词复数 ); 扣押; 监禁; 放学后留校 | |
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15 raping | |
v.以暴力夺取,强夺( rape的现在分词 );强奸 | |
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16 bribes | |
n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 );向(某人)行贿,贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 );向(某人)行贿,贿赂 | |
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17 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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18 minors | |
n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 );副修科目;小公司;[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修,选修,兼修( minor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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19 asylum | |
n.避难所,庇护所,避难 | |
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20 skeptical | |
adj.怀疑的,多疑的 | |
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