美国国家公共电台 NPR--The U.S. unveils plan to discourage border crossings when pandemic restrictions lift

The U.S. unveils plan to discourage border crossings when pandemic restrictions¹ lift

Transcript²

The U.S. will establish new immigration processing centers in Latin America, Biden administration officials announced Thursday, as part of a broader plan to discourage migrants from making the dangerous journey to the southern border.

With pandemic border restrictions set to lift in just two weeks, the administration is rolling out a host of new measures aimed at discouraging migrants from crossing the border illegally.

Those plans include new processing centers in Guatemala and Colombia that are intended to help migrants fleeing Central and South America seek lawful³ pathways to the U.S. At the same time, the administration says it will apply tougher enforcement measures for those who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, including more deportations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the new measures in a joint⁵ press conference Thursday morning in Washington, D.C.

"These centers will take a hugely important step to prevent people from making the dangerous journey to the border by providing a much safer legal option to migrate that they can pursue in and from their own countries," Blinken said.

Immigration authorities are bracing⁶ for a jump in the number of migrants attempting to seek asylum⁷ in the U.S. when the pandemic restrictions known as Title 42 end. The Title 42 restrictions, first put in place by the Trump⁸ administration in March 2020, have been used more than 2 million times to quickly expel migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum.

The Biden administration says it expects to stop enforcing the restrictions on May 11. The White House has tried to end Title 42 before, only to be blocked in court by a coalition⁹ of mostly Republican-led states that have sought to extend the restrictions.

Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of migrants from across the hemisphere have left their home countries, fleeing from violence, poverty, political destabilization and climate change. Many are now waiting in towns and cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, and growing increasingly desperate for a chance to seek asylum in the U.S.

"We know smugglers will seek to take advantage of the end of Title 42, and that the first few weeks will be challenging," Mayorkas acknowledged at the press conference. "Let me be clear: Our border is not open, and it will not be open after May 11th."

Mayorkas says the administration plans to ramp¹⁰ up deportations under the nation's regular immigration laws, and will use the process known as expedited removal to quickly deport⁴ migrants who do not have valid¹¹ asylum claims.

The Biden administration is also pushing ahead with a controversial rule that would make it more difficult for migrants to get asylum if they cross the border illegally after passing through Mexico or another country along the way.

The White House has faced constant criticism from Republicans over its handling of the border. Immigration hardliners blame the administration's policies for the record numbers of migrants arriving at the border in recent years.

Thursday's announcements did not appear to change their minds.

"What President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas are doing are doubling down on the failed policies that created this problem," said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., during a press conference to announce the GOP's latest border security legislation.

"Every single thing Alejandro Mayorkas is doing is to speed more people into this country," said Mark Green, R-Tenn., the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "The more you incentivize people, the bigger the wave will be. And all the processing centers do is provide more incentive¹²."

Thursday's announcement drew more mixed reaction from immigrant advocates.

"We welcome the Biden administration's commitment to expanding refugee resettlement and other regular pathways in the Americas, but remain alarmed that the administration continues to pursue policies that punish people seeking asylum," said Eleanor Acer at the nonprofit Human Rights First during a conference call with reporters.

Refugee resettlement organizations welcomed the announcement that the U.S. intends to admit more refugees from South and Central America. But they also expressed concern about the proposed restrictions on asylum.

"Resettlement should be used not to replace access to asylum, but to relieve pressure on the asylum system and — more importantly — to save lives, so that those people who can access resettlement won't take the dangerous journey to find protection," said Mark Hetfield, the president and CEO of HIAS, in a statement.

The Biden administration did appear to side with immigrant advocates on one key question: whether to resume holding migrant families in detention¹³ facilities.

The administration had ended the practice several months ago over concerns about the harm detention does to young children. In recent weeks, Mayorkas said the administration was considering whether to restart family detention in order to migrants from crossing the border illegally.

But when asked Thursday, Mayorkas give a different answer. "We have no plan to detain families," he said.

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 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

4 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。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

11 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

12 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

13 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。