美国国家公共电台 NPR--Thousands of migrants cross the border from Mexico as pandemic restrictions end soon

Thousands of migrants cross the border from Mexico as pandemic restrictions¹ end soon

Transcript²

Federal authorities are scrambling³ to process thousands of migrants who have crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in recent days as pandemic border restrictions are set to end in less than a week.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Migrant shelters in El Paso, Texas, are overflowing⁴, and some people have been released directly into the streets.

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

Federal authorities are scrambling to process thousands of migrants who've crossed the border from Mexico in recent days. All of this is happening as pandemic border restrictions are set to end in less than a week.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Joel Rose covers immigration.

Joel, tell us more about what's been happening in El Paso.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE⁵: Sure. Migrants are waiting across the Rio Grande and lining⁶ up to turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents in big numbers - more than 2,000 a day in recent days in El Paso alone. Many are hoping to seek asylum⁷ in the U.S. Here's Ruben Garcia, the executive director of Annunciation House, which runs a network of migrant shelters in El Paso, speaking yesterday on the public radio program Texas Standard.

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RUBEN GARCIA: We're just seeing a huge number of refugees that are crossing the border at this particular time. And, of course, it's creating a tremendous challenge.

ROSE: Garcia says both nonprofits and the city of El Paso need more money to deal with this influx⁸ of migrants and potentially also need more space to put these migrants on an emergency basis.

MART?NEZ: So, Joel, why now in particular?

ROSE: Many of these migrants are fleeing from Nicaragua and Latin America, and some say they are trying to get into the U.S. before border policy changes that they think may be coming soon. It's possible that other migrants are going to wait and see what happens when these pandemic border restrictions, known as Title 42, end, which is set to happen next week. These restrictions were first put in place under former President Donald Trump⁹. They've allowed immigration authorities to quickly expel migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum in the U.S. Now a federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ruled that those restrictions are unlawful and given the Biden administration until Dec. 21 to stop using them.

MART?NEZ: So what, then, might happen next week if Title 42 indeed ends?

ROSE: There's a lot of concern that thousands more migrants will try to cross all at once. The Biden administration is reportedly considering some big changes that would sharply limit who can seek asylum at the border. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was in El Paso yesterday. He was meeting with immigration authorities, along with local political and nonprofit leaders. And he also talked to a few reporters in El Paso, including Angela Kocherga with member station KTEP.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: We believe in the asylum system. We've worked very, very hard to reconstruct it after it was dismantled¹¹ by the prior administration, but also building lawful¹⁰, safe, orderly, humane¹² pathways.

ROSE: Mayorkas said there are a lot of discussions underway about policy changes, but no final decisions yet. The administration is really trying to find a balance here between allowing migrants to seek asylum protections, especially the most vulnerable, while also discouraging migrants who don't have good asylum claims from crossing illegally. And like previous administrations, I think they're finding this can be a very difficult balance to strike.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. And here's the thing. I mean, there's still a legal fight over Title 42. So where does that stand?

ROSE: Yes. There's a legal challenge that's still pending¹³ from Republican attorneys general in 19 states, including Arizona and Louisiana. Many of these are the same states, by the way, that successfully blocked Title 42 from ending back in the spring, when the Biden administration tried to end these restrictions before. This week, the states filed an emergency motion with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to keep Title 42 in place while this legal challenge plays out. The states have asked the court to rule on that request by Friday. If the states don't succeed there, they will likely turn to the Supreme¹⁴ Court next.

MART?NEZ: All right. NPR's Joel Rose covers immigration.

Joel, thanks.

ROSE: You're welcome.

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

5 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。

6 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 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。

10 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

11 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

12 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

13 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。