美国国家公共电台 NPR--How Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, from swing state Nevada, views immigration

How Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, from swing state Nevada, views immigration

Transcript¹

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is one of very few Democrats³ to oppose the lifting of the pandemic-era immigration restriction⁴, saying "I thought they were wrong."

Title 42, the pandemic-era restriction that has made it easier for the United States to remove people who cross the border illegally, is expected to come to an end in May.

Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is urging President Joe Biden to be ready.

She's among a handful of Democrats that opposed the Biden administration's attempts to get rid of Title 42, which eventually failed in court.

"I am very open with the administration, and I thought they were wrong - told them that - to repeal⁵ 42 without a plan because I knew there would be a large surge at the border. And we have seen that. It was an ineffective proposal."

Preparing for an increase in border crossings

Cortez Masto believes that both her Republican and Democrat² colleagues in the Senate wish to see more money used to deal with an increase in migrant crossings at the border.

"We have to put funding into the border there, where we have more funding for immigration judges. We have more funding for that orderly process that needs to go through. We have to make sure we're addressing the needs for inspection⁶. We have to make sure that we have more ability to process some of the detainees. So there is a way to do it as long as we're all focused together moving forward."

Family detention⁷

Cortez Masto is warning the Biden administration not to put harsher immigration measures in place as a deterrent⁸, after reports that the government is considering resuming Trump⁹-era family detentions¹⁰.

"It was wrong under Trump and it's wrong now. There was a proposal for a transit¹¹ ban, to me, again, wrong proposal. That's a piecemeal¹² solution to a broken immigration system."

Immigration reform

Cortez Masto has her own ideas on how to reform that system.

While some Republicans focus on preventing immigrants from committing crime, she's looking to pass legislation to protect immigrants from crime.

She reintroduced the Fairness for Immigrant Families Act this week, her long standing¹³ bill that aims to protect undocumented immigrants from fraud.

"I know too many families that literally¹⁴ were taken advantage of, which has implicated¹⁵ their ability to get on track for permanent residency."

She's talking about so-called notario fraud, where criminals use confusion over the Spanish translation of the word to pretend that they are immigration lawyers, rather than simply notaries¹⁶.

Cortez Masto's bill would also make it more difficult for immigration officials to deport¹⁷ parents of children who are U.S. citizens.

The prospects¹⁸ of bipartisan immigration legislation

The Senator hopes that enough of her Republican colleagues actually want to see reform that it could pass, rather than focusing on keeping immigrants out.

"I suspect that's what some of the right-wing are saying, just keep everybody out. Shut the borders, nobody comes in. But that's not all of my colleagues that I am talking to, including some Republicans."

Saying that America's asylum¹⁹ process "doesn't work", Cortez Masto believes that's another area that could see bipartisan progress.

"I've heard that from my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, that we've got to fix the asylum process."

1 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。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 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》

4 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

5 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

6 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

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 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

11 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

12 piecemeal   

adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块

参考例句：

• A lack of narrative drive leaves the reader with piecemeal vignettes.叙述缺乏吸引力，读者读到的只是一些支离破碎的片段。
• Let's settle the matter at one stroke,not piecemeal.把这事一气儿解决了吧，别零敲碎打了。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

15 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 notaries   

n.公证人，公证员( notary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The positions of director and deputy director shall be assumed by notaries. 主任、副主任领导公证处的工作，并且必须执行公证员职务。 来自互联网
• One of the notaries sat down, the other remained standing. 律师之中有一位坐下来，其余的都站着。 来自互联网

17 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

18 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

19 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。