美国国家公共电台 NPR DACA, A Student's Story: 'They Are The Types Of Immigrants You Want In Your Country'

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Recently, we heard from a young immigrant from Mexico - the country from which the vast majority of DACA recipients² arrived. Some 79 percent are from Mexico and most of the rest came from elsewhere in Central and South America. But among the recipients who don't come from there, most came from South Korea.

Dan Lee is one of them. He was born in Korea, and he's now a fourth-year student of political science at American University. He was nice enough to join us here at our studios in Washington, D.C. Dan Lee, thanks so much for being here.

DAN LEE: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: First, would you just tell us a little bit about your story. How old were you when you came and why did your family come?

LEE: I was about 6 or 7-ish when we immigrated³ to the U.S. My parents - they grew up in South Korea. And they have a crush on the American education system, which they regard as one of the highest in the world. According to them, we came here on a tourist visa or one of the visas out there.

And we wanted to stay here for educational purposes and eventually go back. But they saw how well my little brother and I were adjusting in the United States, and they decided⁴, you know what? We'll apply for an immigrant visa. And we'll apply for a green card eventually.

But unfortunately, things didn't work out because my parents - they were scammed by a supposed immigration attorney. And, you know, my parents didn't speak English. They didn't know how the American system worked. They didn't know the laws here. And they just assumed that, oh, if we hire an attorney, everything will work out. Turns out, it didn't.

MARTIN: Do you remember how old you were when you realized that your legal status was precarious⁵?

LEE: I always knew it in the back of my mind. But it didn't really hit me until I was looking for a part-time job in high school. And I applied⁶ for a job. And I thought I aced⁷ the interview and everything. And then they're like, great, we'll need your documents, you know, your Social Security number. And I asked my mom like, hey, mom, where's all my documents and stuff like this? And my mom's like, yeah, you don't have any of those.

MARTIN: Do you remember thinking then about what it would mean for your future if you didn't have those documents? Do you remember kind of recognizing the impact of that?

LEE: Well, when I realized I was undocumented around like 15, like, that's when it really hit me. And I started doing a lot of research on it - on like what it means to be undocumented. Like, why do people call us illegals and stuff like that?

And I guess it was a tumultuous time. I was very, like, afraid for my future because I realized, oh, wait, I can't get a job. I'm not a eligible⁸ for any financial aid. I wanted to have a career in civil service, and I realized I couldn't do any of those things. And it was very depressing.

This was before DACA was introduced. So I thought, oh, no, like, given the historical data, like, I see that Congress has tried to tackle immigration reform so many times and they've mostly failed over and over again. And I realized there's just simply no hope.

And I was going like, what is the point of me even trying in school? What is the point of me doing anything if I'm not going to be able to have a career or be able to, I guess, be normal?

MARTIN: Did that have an effect on you? I mean, did you stop going to school or did you...

LEE: I did.

MARTIN: So how did you get back on track? You obviously did. I mean, you did wind up going to college.

LEE: My family has always been a very strong supporter. And I guess my brother also really did help a lot because he would say, like, you can't just wallow in self despair because, you know, one day, there's going to be an opportunity that's going to come by and you have to be ready to seize it.

MARTIN: What made you decide to come here today and talk with us? I mean, were glad you did. But what made you decide to come and talk with us?

LEE: You know, like, how people say don't let yourself live in fear? And you see all these, like, activists⁹ out there going like, I won't let myself live in fear. And I was thinking to myself like, what are you talking about? I live in fear (laughter). Like, this is, like, I can't just say that. And, like, I haven't actually told anybody that I was a DACA recipient¹ until my girlfriend actually. And I realized it's almost liberating¹⁰ and that feeling is incredible.

MARTIN: What's your hope for the future? What's the hope - what's your hope for your future?

LEE: What do you mean hope for my future?

MARTIN: What's your hope? What do you hope will happen? What do you want to do?

LEE: I just want to, I guess, live that normal life where this issue isn't popping up and putting us in limbo¹¹ because what I think is one of the worse fears or one of the worse aspects of this entire situation is - it's the waiting. It's the unknown and the uncertainty¹².

And there's a lot of, you know, back and forth¹³ between the White House and Congress right now. But it's the fact that we don't know what's going to happen. I wish they could just say it to get me out of this limbo.

It's like when you're on a chair and you lean a little too back and you're just about to fall, right? And it's feeling that like perpetual falling feeling. I just want to know if I'm going to be able to keep what I built here. I want to be able to one day own a house, have a family, have a job and watch football on Sundays peacefully.

MARTIN: That's Dan Lee. He's a fourth year student of political science at American University here in Washington, D.C. He's a DACA recipient. He was kind enough to join us here at our studios in Washington, D.C. Dan Lee, thanks so much for speaking with us.

LEE: Thank you for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF ESBE'S "FLOAT")

1 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

2 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》

3 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

6 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 aced   

vt.发球得分（ace的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• I don't know how I aced in, I was lucky enough. 我不知道这好事怎么让我给碰上了，我够幸运的。 来自互联网
• He aced every physical fitness test they gave him. 他顺利通过了他们对他所作的每项体格检查。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 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》

10 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

11 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。

12 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

13 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。