美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why Republicans are opposed to the lifting of Title 42 border restrictions

Why Republicans are opposed to the lifting of Title 42 border restrictions¹

Transcript²

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Republican strategist Mike Madrid about Republicans opposition³ to lifting Title 42, an order used to expel thousands of asylum⁴-seekers during the pandemic.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

What's really at stake in the convoluted⁵ Supreme⁶ Court case over the border? The court plans to hear arguments over what is called Title 42. That refers to a public health rule that allows the federal government to expel asylum-seekers without a hearing on their cases because of the pandemic - the idea being they might spread COVID-19 into the United States, as if COVID wasn't already here. President Biden's administration planned to lift that rule since the United States has abandoned many other pandemic restrictions, but 19 Republican-led states sued to intervene in the case, and the court froze the rules for now. Republican strategist Mike Madrid is going to talk through the politics of this with us. Good morning.

MIKE MADRID: Good morning, Steve. Thanks for having me.

INSKEEP: I guess I should state the obvious. This isn't at all about the pandemic, is it?

MADRID: This is not about the pandemic, and it never has been. This is, unfortunately, a small skirmish in this broader war on immigration reform that the country seems to be incapable⁷ of addressing. The last time we had any sort of a comprehensive immigration reform program was 1986. And both sides - both parties are so dug into their respective positions that these small tweaks, these small adjustments, these small opportunities like Title 42 tend to take on this enhanced value when trying to make changes that don't require significant legislative⁸ efforts.

So no, this has never been about the pandemic. It's always been about these nominal⁹ changes or nominal adjustments in immigration policy. And, unfortunately, a lot - millions of people now are being affected¹⁰ by the performative nature of the politics going on here.

INSKEEP: Again, in practical terms, what 19 Republican states are saying - Republican-led states are saying is we do not want asylum-seekers to receive a hearing. We want them to be thrown out. In practical terms, that's what they're saying. But what do they really want? What are they seeking here?

MADRID: They really want the issue to remain. They really want to keep the border issue as it is because it serves them politically. And that's not to suggest that there isn't partisan¹² politics going on on both sides of this, but it's clearly much more enhanced on the Republican side. If this issue goes away - if this issue is resolved, the Republicans lose essentially¹³ one of the great motivators they have for their base. And that really has been one of the driving problems since the early 2000s on trying to get a deal done on immigration reform.

And so the visuals - the constant visuals of caravans¹⁴ coming from Central America; encampments now, when there are border surges, with people living, you know, in tents on the border, waiting for their asylum claims; flying people to Martha's Vineyard from other states - this is all part of the theater that, unfortunately, is not only affecting people's lives, but it's being used to demonstrate - quote-unquote, "demonstrate" this border crisis, forcing the hands - in their view, forcing the hands of Democrats¹⁵ to increase border security, which, of course, the likelihood of that happening without a comprehensive deal is de minimis. And that, they believe - Republicans believe enhances their positions politically.

INSKEEP: Although let's talk through the practical concerns here. The concern is, you lift title 42, you get a surge - an additional surge of people seeking asylum. And there's already an awful lot of people coming to the border, in relative terms, compared to recent years. There are also some Democrats. Senator Raphael Warnock comes to mind. Earlier this year, there were some Democrats who said, wait a minute, we actually don't know what would happen after this policy is lifted. We don't know what to do with this surge of people. We are not prepared for this. Is there a case to be made that the country is not ready?

MADRID: There absolutely is. I don't want to suggest that it's an illegitimate concern. But what I am suggesting is there are bigger demographic concerns and, frankly¹⁶, economic concerns that trump¹⁷, essentially, these nominal changes. We may or may not be prepared for dropping Title 42. But what we do know is this - the surge is already happening. So this concern about more and more people coming I think is probably a false argument, especially when so many people are now coming from Russia, from India, from countries that are not covered under Title 42, you know, by the thousands now.

And so whether Title 42 is lifted or not, this surge has already arrived. And the only way to address this is not to look at this, again, very narrowly, in terms of Title 42, but in a broader, more comprehensive way because the reason why Title 42 has become such a big issue is because we're not solving the underlying¹⁸ problem.

INSKEEP: You mentioned the politics here - that Republicans pound on this issue because they see benefit in firing up their political base. It's a thing that their base voters want. But as you know very well, Republicans also have worked very hard in recent years to appeal to the Latino vote. They've even had some limited success in limited places in the last couple of elections in appealing to a large chunk¹⁹ of the Latino vote. It's presumed that their immigration stance hurts them, but I wonder if maybe it does or doesn't. Is there a slice of the Latino vote that would actually be with the Republican base on this issue?

MADRID: Steve, that's an excellent question. It's a point I wanted to bring up because that is absolutely the case. What is happening is Latino voters - this rightward shift we have seen in 2020 that sustained in 2022 - is due in large part to concerns about the lack of border security. Most of those shifts were happening with Hispanic voters along border communities. And so yes, the Republican position is working with Hispanic voters. And the idea - this stereotype²⁰ that all Latinos somehow are concerned about border security or not concerned about border security - support an open-borders policy - is false. I think this forces the Democrats' hand, and Republicans may be actually eking¹¹ out a big win here or at least forcing a resolution to this policy debate.

INSKEEP: Republican political consultant²¹ Mike Madrid, pleasure talking with you.

MADRID: Thanks for having me, Steve.

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 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 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。

5 convoluted   

adj.旋绕的；复杂的

参考例句：

• The snake slithered through a convoluted path.蛇在羊肠小道上爬行。
• The policy is so convoluted even college presidents are confused.这项政策太令人费解，甚至连大学校长们也是一头雾水。

6 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。

7 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 eking   

v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的现在分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日

参考例句：

• He was eking out an existence on a few francs a day. 他每天就靠几法郎勉强度日。 来自辞典例句
• She is eking out her income by working in the evenings. 她在晚上工作以增加收入。 来自辞典例句

12 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

13 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。

14 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

15 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

17 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。

18 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

19 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

20 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

21 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。