VOA标准英语2010年-Immigration Law Divides Arizona City

A law intended to curb¹ illegal immigration is to take effect in the southwestern state of Arizona late next month and it is generating controversy² across the United States.  Recent public opinion polls indicate that a majority of Americans, including those in Arizona, support the new law, which requires non-citizens to carry documents that show that they are in the United States legally.  It also requires Arizona police to question people if there is reason to believe they are not in the country legally. Our correspondent reports from Tucson, Arizona that both sides in the debate say it is up to Washington to settle the immigration issue.

The new law has led to protests throughout the United States and it is dividing the people of Tucson.  The city is only 100 kilometers from the U.S. border with Mexico.  And authorities say that at least 40 percent of U.S. border crossing arrests are in the Tucson region.  More than 240,000 illegal migrants were apprehended³ in there last year.

South of Tucson, on the border, residents complain of human and drug smuggling⁴, of nuisances like trash left by those who cross the border illegally, and of violence.

Bill Odle's home is on the border.  He says lack of action by the U.S. government prompted the state measure.

"Because we're so disappointed in the failure of the federal government to do anything productive.  They [federal government] are charged with that [border enforcement] in the Constitution.  And they have just failed," said Bill Odle.

 

Pancho Medina

But in the Hispanic neighborhood of South Tucson, attitudes are different.  At a local charity that offers food to the poor, Mexican American activist⁵ Pancho Medina says the law targets Hispanics.

"The state legislature should be saying, 'Mexicans, go home!  Go back to Mexico, Mexicans!'  That's what they're really saying.  And I'm angry because I'm more of an American, I'm a better citizen, more patriotic⁶ than half of these people in the United States," said Pancho Medina.

Responding to criticism, the Arizona legislature changed the wording of the law to ensure that race is not a factor in enforcement. 

But critics like Reverend Delle McCormick of the group BorderLinks say race will be decisive.

"Everybody knows who's stopped more often here," said Delle McCormick. "I mean, it's happened for years.  It's people of color, people with brown skin or light brown skin.  It's people who are smaller in stature⁷.  People who wear a particular kind of clothing, have a backpack on, have dark clothing, look like they've come through the desert, look like they're a migrant."

Police worry that the law will hurt relations with the Hispanic community.

Captain Michael Gillooly, chief of staff of the Tucson Police Department, says the new law will take officers away from enforcing other laws.

"And that might be challenging for us because we're a busy community, a busy police department," said Captain Gillooly. "And we will have to find time for that.  The challenge is that the law also prescribes a remedy for a civil lawsuit⁸ against the city and the police department, if somebody feels we did not enforce the law when we had an opportunity to do so."

Since Arizona Governor Jan Brewer⁹ signed the bill into law in April, dozens of U.S. cities have launched boycotts¹⁰ against the state.  Economists¹¹ say they might already be having an impact on Arizona's tourist industry, which employs 40,000 people in Tucson alone.

But Kimberly Schmitz of the Metropolitan¹² Tucson Convention and Visitor's Bureau says the boycotts will not resolve the issue of immigration.

"Boycotts are bad for everybody," said Kimberly Schmitz. "Everybody suffers.  There's just nothing good that comes out of it.  We believe that there are other ways to work with some of the issues that are going on than to try to deprive an industry or really deprive people in an industry of their livelihood¹³."

The new law faces civil lawsuits¹⁴.  And the Obama administration is considering a court challenge by the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Law professors at the University of Arizona in Tucson have tried to untangle the issues.  One says the law is not well written, but that it raises important questions about the place of race in law enforcement and the role of local officials in enforcing federal immigration law.  Professor Marc Miller¹⁵ says it is unclear whether the Arizona law will withstand a court challenge.

"And part of the difficulty in answering the question is that to understand all of the legal issues involved with this bill requires about half of a modern American law faculty," said Marc Miller. "You have to be a criminal lawyer, an expert in criminal procedure, in state and federal relations, in state and local law, in constitutional law and in immigration law."

President Barack Obama has promised to send an additional 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, but that has done little to satisfy either side in the debate. 

In the end, most people agree that the federal government has the main responsibility for overseeing immigration.  Conservatives largely favor better fences and stricter border enforcement.  And liberals want immigration reform with a path to citizenship¹⁶ for some of the millions of people who are already in the United States illegally.  

 

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 apprehended   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
• The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。

4 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

7 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

8 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

9 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

10 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

11 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

13 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

14 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

15 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

16 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。