美国国家公共电台 NPR--10 years ago President Obama moved to protect undocumented children from deportation

10 years ago President Obama moved to protect undocumented children from deportation¹

Transcript²

Wednesday marks the tenth anniversary of the creation of a program that lets undocumented children stay in the United States. Immigrants who came of age under DACA share their stories.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

It's been 10 years since the Obama White House authorized³ the Deferred⁴ Action for Childhood Arrival program. DACA deferred deportation for undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as children. More than 800,000 benefited. Tyche Hendricks from member station KQED spoke⁵ with several immigrants who came of age in the DACA era.

TYCHE HENDRICKS, BYLINE⁶: Even though Ju Hong was in the first wave of people to get DACA's work permit and a shield from deportation, protection for him has been fleeting⁷.

JU HONG: Overnight, I got let go of my job. I lost my health insurance.

HENDRICKS: He lost his job with a county government in the Oakland area after his renewal⁸ application got stuck in a federal backlog⁹ last year, and his work permit expired.

HONG: It was a wake-up call for me that I'm still vulnerable, that I'm still in this limbo¹⁰ status, that DACA is still temporary.

HENDRICKS: Hong is 32. He's been undocumented since he moved here from South Korea with his family as an 11-year-old. When he lost his status, Hong mobilized friends to call Congress. Within days, his DACA was renewed, but the experience made him decide on a career change. Now he works full-time¹¹ as an advocate.

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HENDRICKS: On this day, Hong walks up the big central staircase of the Hayward Public Library. Sometimes he comes here to work. He wants a path to citizenship¹² for himself and others like him.

HONG: I could think about a long-term future and how I want to live my life in this country and start my own family.

HENDRICKS: DACA was always a stopgap measure, an executive action President Obama took. He was pushed to act after years of outspoken¹³ activism from young undocumented immigrants known as DREAMers. One of those activists¹⁴ was Yahaira Carrillo. She was 7 when her mother brought her from Mexico to California. She came of age with the stifling¹⁵ awareness¹⁶ that her family was always in danger.

YAHAIRA CARRILLO: It felt like you could go to work and end up deported¹⁷. You could go to the market and end up deported.

HENDRICKS: In 2010, she took a bold step - advocating for the DREAM Act, a permanent solution for DACA recipients¹⁸. She and four other college students staged a sit-in at the Arizona office of the late senator John McCain, and she was arrested. She says she risked deportation because she was at the end of her rope.

CARRILLO: And I was feeling like I was going to be stuck.

HENDRICKS: Carrillo had come out of the closet once already, telling loved ones she was queer. She realized there was also power in coming out as undocumented.

CARRILLO: The sit-in at McCain's office was a more extreme version of that - right? - of really scaling it up a notch¹⁹.

HENDRICKS: Carrillo had been counting on DACA. But in the end, she didn't qualify. A breakthrough came from an unfortunate circumstance.

CARRILLO: I am a survivor²⁰ of domestic violence.

HENDRICKS: Her lawyer told her about one of the only avenues for undocumented people to become legal residents. Crime victims who cooperate with police can apply for a green card. It worked.

CARRILLO: In the next year, I'll become eligible²¹ for citizenship.

HENDRICKS: There are many not as fortunate. The DREAM Act, which would build that pathway to citizenship for 2.3 million young people, passed the House but it's stuck in the Senate. As for the DACA program, it survived an effort from President Trump²² to end it, but barely. A Texas case challenging the program's legality could reach the Supreme²³ Court next year.

ROBERTO GONZALES: I think that many people are kind of bracing²⁴ for the worst.

HENDRICKS: Roberto Gonzales is a University of Pennsylvania sociologist²⁵. He's followed the lives of hundreds of undocumented young people. And he says if we don't value DREAMers, that's a loss for the whole country.

GONZALES: You know, immigration has always been a contentious²⁶ issue framed around this question of who belongs in the we of our nation.

HENDRICKS: As the years go by, fewer and fewer young people can qualify for DACA because the rules say they have to have been here since June 15, 2007. Gonzales says most undocumented students entering college this year don't make that cutoff.

JENNIFER: I didn't qualify for it 'cause I came here 12 days too late.

HENDRICKS: Jennifer (ph) is a 20-year-old in Oakland. She came from El Salvador with her grandma when she was 5. We're not using her last name because she fears the risk of deportation.

JENNIFER: It made me feel really sad, very disappointed, because I really had, like, high hopes for it, thinking that it was going to work out.

HENDRICKS: She wants to go to college and study for a job in the health professions. For now, she's getting by working in a fast food restaurant under the table.

For NPR News, I'm Tyche Hendricks in Hayward, Calif.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

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 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

4 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

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 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。

7 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

8 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

9 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

10 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。

11 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

12 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。

13 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

14 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

16 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

17 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》

18 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

19 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

20 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

21 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

22 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。

23 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。

24 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

25 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

26 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。