【英语语言学习】一位母亲与众多无家可归的孩子

ARUN RATH, HOST:

While attention in Washington stays fixed¹ on the Texas border where tens of thousands of migrant children wait in limbo², thousands more children living in America who are legal citizens also face an uncertain future because their parents are not here legally. And if their parents get deported³, the kids could end up in foster care or even adopted by strangers.

NORA SANDIGO: (Through translator) I'm aware that what I'm doing is just like a grain of sand. The problem is huge. It's a problem that the federal government needs to fix. I can only do what I can do as one person with my own human limitations. And I am just one person.

RATH: Nora Sandigo is the legal guardian⁴ for 817 American children of undocumented immigrants who have nowhere else to turn. She spoke⁵ with me from her office in Miami, through an interpreter, this week. Nora Sandigo is our Sunday Conversation.

SANDIGO: (Through translator) For a lot of those kids, if their parents don't prepare documents before being deported, it's possible that one day there's no one to pick their child up from daycare or school because Immigration deported their parents - because if they are deported, and it happened suddenly, what will happen is that the government will take custody⁶ of the kids. Their real parents don't want this. They don't want to lose their children. They love them.

RATH: Now you're not physically⁷ caring for 817 children, right?

SANDIGO: (Through translator) For many of them, I am. There have been many moments in which the child's father is detained and the mother has already been deported, and I've kept the children with me temporarily. And then they go to live with a family member or a family friend. The person that they live with gets a background screening, and that's the person that cares for them.

RATH: And for the others, where are they? Are they all in Florida, and who takes care of them?

SANDIGO: (Through translator) They're in different places, but they do have people taking care of them - either a family member or one of the parents that is still in the United States. And we also take care of the essential things they need. We support them when a mother has five children, and she cannot work because of her illegal status. And she cannot leave her children alone because the government can take them away. Well, we make sure that she has a roof over her head and food and school supplies or moral support.

RATH: Is there anybody - any authority - who could say that there's a limit to how many children because - that would say, you know, you can't be a legal guardian for over 800 kids?

SANDIGO: (Through translator) No. What I do is public, and they can't take the authority away from parents to give me custody of their children. Legally, they can't do anything because they don't give me anything. I don't ask for anything.

RATH: And is there any support from federal or state government?

SANDIGO: Absolutely not - not at all.

RATH: Nora, how much do you have to pay out of your own pocket to help care for these kids?

SANDIGO: (Through translator) I don't think about it anymore. Everything that we can give, we give. We have never asked ourselves how much. There are people who come as volunteers and bring food. There are churches and business people that come, too, and give us what we need.

RATH: And what about emotional support, you know, dealing⁸ with a child's fear of being separated from their parents?

SANDIGO: (Through translator) That is the part that breaks our hearts, but we know that we have to be there for them and be strong. We have to lift their spirits and tell them everything will be OK. One day you'll be reunited. One day you'll have justice, and everything will be resolved. Meanwhile, study hard in school to make your parents proud.

The children have problems focusing in school. They have problems sleeping. They don't want to interact with other people or talk to other people about what's going on. It's easier for them to talk to me because they trust me with their problems. This is important, not just for society, but for America's future - to raise good kids, not kids with problems due to the fact that no one forms a connection with them.

RATH: Do you feel like the parents of these children have put them in a bad situation?

SANDIGO: No. They love their kids, and the kids love their parents or their family. And they want to stay here because they are American citizens.

RATH: I saw that you had described what you're doing as being like a Band-Aid. Could you explain?

SANDIGO: (Through translator) Yes. Sadly, that's how it is. I'm aware that what I'm doing is just like a grain of sand. The problem is huge. It's a problem that the federal government needs to fix. I can only do what I can do with my own human limitations. I am just one person.

RATH: I understand that you were, yourself, separated from your parents at 17, fleeing the war in Nicaragua. And I'm curious about your perspective on the children who are now coming across the border from Central America.

SANDIGO: (Through translator) I also had to leave my country because of the violence, because of communism and because the communists assassinated⁹ many people in my family and among my friends. I understand that the kids who are arriving now - many of these children are fleeing the violence and the social disorder¹⁰ in their countries. I think that they should have the same opportunities that all human beings are afforded.

RATH: Nora Sandigo, thank you very much.

SANDIGO: (Spanish spoken) Thank you very much for everything.

1 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

2 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

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 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

5 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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

10 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。