美国国家公共电台 NPR--New U.S. border plan may lead more Cubans to attempt the risky journey by sea

New U.S. border plan may lead more Cubans to attempt the risky¹ journey by sea

Transcript²

Authorities in the Florida Keys are struggling to respond to a surge in migrants landing in boats from Haiti and Cuba. The largest numbers are from Cuba where economic conditions are desperate.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Several hundred migrants, most of them Cuban, have landed in the past week. The Biden administration just announced a new program that aims to close the country's southern border to unauthorized migrant crossings. But as NPR's Greg Allen reports, there are concerns it could lead to more Cubans attempting the risky journey by the sea.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE³: For much of the past year, rickety boats packed with migrants, mostly from Cuba, have been landing almost daily in Florida. Many come ashore⁴ in the Keys, the part of Florida closest to the island. The migrant landings drew national attention over the New Year's holiday weekend, when boats carrying more than 400 Cubans landed on a remote island, forcing the closure of Dry Tortugas National Park.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Shouting in Spanish).

ALLEN: A Floridian who was camping on the island witnessed some of the landings and posted a video on social media. By yesterday, the Coast Guard said a total of 427 Cuban migrants had boarded its cutters and were taken to Key West for processing. The Coast Guard says the number of migrants intercepted⁵ at sea has spiked⁷ in recent months, with more than 4,000 Cubans stopped since October. Most are returned to Cuba, but many vessels⁸ are evading⁹ federal authorities. Rick Ramsay, the sheriff in the Florida Keys, told Fox News his officers have responded to dozens of migrant landings over the past week. He says the surge has overwhelmed Customs and Border Protection officials in his area.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RICK RAMSAY: We actually had - the other day, we called for a pickup¹⁰ for a group of migrants. They were so busy they told us they may not be able to arrive until the following day.

ALLEN: The numbers of Cubans arriving by sea are dwarfed¹¹ by the massive numbers coming over the U.S.-Mexico border. In the last fiscal¹² year, 220,000 Cubans arrived in the U.S. along the southern border, more than double the number who came more than four decades ago during the Mariel boatlift. Sebastian Arcos, with the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, says it's the largest exodus¹³ Cuba has ever seen.

SEBASTIAN ARCOS: And the reason is that Cuba is right now under its worst economic and political crisis since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.

ALLEN: Arcos believes conditions are more desperate than in the early 1990s, when the loss of support from the Soviet¹⁴ Union plunged¹⁵ Cuba into a prolonged economic crisis. As conditions have worsened, more and more Cubans have scraped together the $12,000 to $15000 needed to fly to Nicaragua and then pay coyotes to get them overland to the U.S. border.

ARCOS: It's what the Cubans jokingly call the tourism to see the volcanoes in Hialeah. Because they claim that they go to Nicaragua to see the volcanoes, but they actually end up in Hialeah.

ALLEN: Julio Cesar Rodriguez Acevedo made that trip in October with his wife and daughter. It was a 17-day journey. He's now being supported by family members in the Miami area.

JULIO CESAR RODRIGUEZ ACEVEDO: (Through interpreter) It's not just me, but pretty much every young person from the moment they're able to think for themselves, the first thing they think is, how do I get out of here?

ALLEN: Under a new program outlined yesterday by the Biden administration, migrations¹⁶ by Cubans like Rodriguez will now be significantly curtailed¹⁷. Along with migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti, Cubans won't be able to apply for asylum¹⁸ at the border. People from those countries with sponsors in the U.S. will have to apply from abroad in order to be allowed entry. Sebastian Arcos with Florida International University says closing the southern border may convince more to attempt the perilous¹⁹ journey by sea.

ARCOS: If this is not clarified soon, my prediction is that it will generate a spike⁶ in the number of people trying to reach South Florida via boat.

ALLEN: Biden administration officials say the new rules apply to anyone from the four listed countries, including Cuba, that attempt to enter the U.S. illegally at any point, including coming by boat across the Florida Straits.

Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

1 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

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 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。

4 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

5 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

6 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

7 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

8 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 evading   

逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• Segmentation of a project is one means of evading NEPA. 把某一工程进行分割，是回避《国家环境政策法》的一种手段。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Too many companies, she says, are evading the issue. 她说太多公司都在回避这个问题。

10 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

11 dwarfed   

vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The old houses were dwarfed by the huge new tower blocks. 这些旧房子在新建的高楼大厦的映衬下显得十分矮小。
• The elephant dwarfed the tortoise. 那只乌龟跟那头象相比就显得很小。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

13 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

14 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

15 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

16 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

17 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。

19 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。