美国国家公共电台 NPR--Quebec leaders want a popular, but unofficial, border crossing closed

Quebec leaders want a popular, but unofficial, border crossing closed

Transcript¹

Thousands of migrants who enter the United States go on to Canada. The Quebec government says it can no longer accommodate the influx².

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Officials say asylum³-seekers who have passed through the U.S. into Canada are straining their resources. Cara Chapman of North Country Public Radio reports.

CARA CHAPMAN, BYLINE⁴: Last year, more than 39,000 asylum-seekers crossed into Quebec outside official ports of entry. Most of them used a little road in northern New York that dead-ends at the U.S.-Canada border. Roxham Road winds through sparsely⁵ populated forest and farmland before giving way to a small parking area. Things kind of run on a routine here. A car pulls up...

(SOUNDBITE OF CAR ENGINE REVVING)

CHAPMAN: ...The door opens...

(SOUNDBITE OF CAR DOOR OPENING)

CHAPMAN: ...And people get out, often pulling suitcases behind them.

(SOUNDBITE OF SUITCASE ROLLING)

CHAPMAN: They walk up to a small path and stop. A stone pillar marks the official boundary with Canada. From there, Canadian police officers speak to the asylum-seekers.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: United States. Canada. If you cross, you'll be arrested.

CHAPMAN: This can happen dozens of times a day. People also cross in even more remote locations, which can be dangerous, especially in the winter. They come because of a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. They get arrested for crossing, but they can claim asylum because they are not at an official port of entry. Thousands of migrants have already crossed at Roxham Road this year. Luis Rangel is from Venezuela, which for years has experienced rampant⁶ inflation, crime and political persecution⁷.

LUIS RANGEL: (Speaking Spanish).

CHAPMAN: "When the marches happened in Venezuela, I was one of the people out there protesting because I didn't agree with what was happening in our country." Rangel and his family moved to Ecuador three years ago, but he couldn't find work that paid enough to help him support other relatives back in Venezuela. So last October, he and his wife decided⁸ to go north. They eventually got to New York City, but they quickly realized it would take years to get legal work in the U.S. and reunite with their sons, who are still in Ecuador with family. That's when they learned about Roxham Road on social media and how Canada might be easier.

RANGEL: (Speaking Spanish).

CHAPMAN: "The country doesn't matter so much," Rangel says. "It's the ability to work and make money." He says if you can't make money, how are you supposed to help your family? Rangel is one of many who had planned to settle in the U.S. then thought they might have better luck in Canada. They believe it's easier to win an asylum claim, start working and find other resources there. But the surge in migrants has overwhelmed Quebec. Here's Canadian Relations Minister Jean-Francois Roberge speaking with CTV News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEAN-FRANCOIS ROBERGE: Here in Quebec, we are proud of our tradition of welcoming refugees. As long as it was, like, 1,000, 2,000, it was OK. But now our capacity are exceeded.

CHAPMAN: The Canadian federal government has moved thousands of asylum-seekers to other provinces, but Quebec government officials want to take things a step further. They want the Roxham Road crossing and the Safe Third Country Agreement loophole closed. Not everyone sees that as a solution. Abdulla Daoud is with The Refugee Centre in Montreal. He wants all asylum-seekers to be able to make their claims at official ports of entry where it's safer.

ABDULLA DAOUD: Because if we just close Roxham Road, they're just going to find another place to come through because they're seeking safety.

CHAPMAN: Some experts say making legal migration⁹ easier would help relieve the pressure on both the U.S. and Canada. Muzaffar Chishti is a senior fellow with the Migration Policy Institute.

MUZAFFAR CHISHTI: Opening the front door, especially when there's evidence of labor¹⁰ need in the country, is an obvious solution.

CHAPMAN: President Joe Biden plans to visit Canada and meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later this month. Trudeau has said he wants to update the agreement that allows asylum-seekers to cross the border between ports of entry. A White House spokesperson did not return a request for comment, but the U.S. ambassador to Canada recently told the CBC that it would be better to focus on the underlying¹¹ causes of migration. For NPR News, I'm Cara Chapman in northern New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF NINE SPARKS RIOTS & SEBASTIAN AGREN'S "THE LOTUS AND THE SWAMP")

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 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

7 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 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。