美国国家公共电台 NPR Former Agent Says, 'Border Patrol Does Good Work ... But There's Tension There'

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

About 10 years ago, a recent college graduate named Francisco Cantu told his mother what seemed like good news. He got a job.

FRANCISCO CANTU: I think she was terrified when I decided¹ to join the Border Patrol. And I think she was also confused about why I was doing this.

INSKEEP: Cantu had studied the border in school, but he wanted to understand it more deeply. He was accepted as a new agent guarding the United States southern border. And his experience offers a personal view of an issue we constantly debate. He attended the Border Patrol Academy and emerged equipped to patrol the Arizona wilderness².

CANTU: What any Border Patrol agent always carries with them is a tricky³ bag. We call it a tricky bag. You've got binoculars⁴. You've got the paper forms that you need to fill out in the field if you apprehend⁵ someone, five, six, seven, eight, nine different flashlights because the worst thing that could ever happen to you is to run out of light in the middle of the night somewhere.

INSKEEP: Tricky bag in the car, he drove out across the desert - sometimes in a team, often alone - to look for people crossing. Cantu tells the story of his Border Patrol years in a new memoir⁶ called "The Line Becomes A River," which is one way to describe the U.S.-Mexico border. In this book, we find out why his mother was terrified, not so much by the physical danger as by a fear that her son would lose his soul. That's how she viewed the difficult work of rounding up people and deporting⁷ them from the desert. Cantu began to fear for himself when he arrested people like a middle-aged⁸ mother abandoned in the desert by her guide. He saved that border crosser's life, as agents often do.

CANTU: I remember sort of bandaging her feet and cleaning her wounds, which is this very, you know, direct, tangible⁹ way of, like, helping¹⁰ someone. I think it's almost biblical in a sense to clean someone's feet. And I remember her looking down at me and just kind of like very tenderly and thanking me. And I felt like, don't thank me. At the end of the day, I'm taking you back to a cell. And I'm, you know, sending you on your way to be sent back to this place that you're literally¹¹ risking your life to flee. And so, yes, it's true that the Border Patrol does good work and rescues people and saves lives, but there's tension there.

INSKEEP: A tension that eventually caused him to quit the Border Patrol. It also gave him a perspective on this country's immigration debate.

CANTU: In the station where I worked, we had quite a bit of border fencing, a wall. It was a 20-foot-high steel mesh¹². And, you know, guys on the south side found a way to pry¹³ open the steel panels and put a hydraulic¹⁴ tire jack¹⁵ underneath¹⁶ and jack them up and lift them high enough to drive cars underneath. And, you know, when that didn't work, they would show up with welders¹⁷ and weld holes just big enough for people to walk through or to crawl through. And so I really think no matter what obstacle we put at the border, it's going to be subverted¹⁸. People are going to find a way up, over, under or around it.

INSKEEP: What is it like when you're out in the desert alone in that really dry, really dangerous, really mountainous landscape?

CANTU: It's funny. I actually remember one of the very first jobs that I was assigned. You know, the first time you're thrown a set of keys, you're often sent to one of these lookout¹⁹ positions. And I remember, like, standing²⁰ outside of my truck and just looking out at the desert on all sides of me. And I'm someone who grew up in the desert, so it's not unfamiliar²¹ to me, but I'll never forget that feeling. I was - I felt, you know, completely overwhelmed. It was like I was looking out across the ocean. I mean, that's how vast it is.

INSKEEP: Were people watching you as you were up there watching for them?

CANTU: Yeah, absolutely. You know, if you're anywhere within 40 to 80 miles of the border, you're being watched by cartel scouts²². But, of course, you're also being watched by the United States government. I mean, our border is one of the most heavily patrolled, surveilled terrains²³ that there is. And so when I go out now, you know, for a hike or for a day out in the borderlands and, you know, explore some little canyon²⁴, I'm always kind of conscious of that in the back of my mind. I'm like, I wonder who's watching me right now?

INSKEEP: So what was the effect on your soul of several years of doing this kind of work?

CANTU: My biggest takeaway from the job, you know, more than, you know, any drug bust²⁵ or car chase or when you arrest somebody who has a extensive criminal history and you pat yourself on the back, like, all of that was sort of insignificant²⁶. You know, I'll never forget, as a Border Patrol agent, bringing this guy into my station as part of a group that I apprehended²⁷. And I was rolling his fingerprints²⁸ and putting him into, you know, the database to be shipped back to Mexico.

And I remember him just kind of like looking around while I was asking him these formulaic questions. And he's like, hey, you know, I know there's a couple hours before the bus comes. Is there anything I can do? Can I take out the trash? Can I clean the cells? You know, I want to show you that I'm here to work. And I just - it changed things for me to have someone in front of me and say that to me. And so those are the kind of things that I carry with me. I think there's nothing as powerful as an individual story. And I think we need to listen to the people who have those stories right now.

INSKEEP: Did he just want you to know that he wasn't a crook²⁹?

CANTU: I think he wanted me to know that, but I think he also wanted to work. He saw that there were - the trash hadn't been taken out. He saw that there was sweeping³⁰ that could be done. And I think he very sincerely would have liked me to hand him a broom.

INSKEEP: The book is "The Line Becomes A River: Dispatches From The Border." The author is Francisco Cantu. Thank you very much.

CANTU: Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF RER REPETER'S "LEARNING THE ROPES")

1 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。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

4 binoculars   

n.双筒望远镜

参考例句：

• He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
• If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜，我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。

5 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

6 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

7 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

8 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

9 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 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。

12 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

13 pry   

vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起)

参考例句：

• He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
• We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。

14 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

15 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

16 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

17 welders   

n.焊接工( welder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifty welders were declared redundant. 已公布削减五十名焊工。 来自辞典例句
• Arcs more readily than AC welders, with longer arcing. 起弧比交流电容易，电弧加长一倍。 来自互联网

18 subverted   

v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠

参考例句：

• Their wills could be subverted only by death. 只有死神才能使他们放弃他们的意志。 来自教父部分
• Indiana State laws deliberately subverted the intent of the constitutions 14th Amendment. 印第安纳州的法律有意歪曲联邦宪法第十四条修正案的愿意。 来自辞典例句

19 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

20 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。

21 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

22 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

23 terrains   

n.地形( terrain的名词复数 )；地面；地域；地带

参考例句：

• Scientists call these pieces exotic or suspect terrains. 科学家们把这些小陆块叫外来或嫌疑地块。 来自辞典例句
• In the western of China are intricate terrains and many hilly regions. 我国西部地区地势复杂，多丘陵。 来自互联网

24 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

25 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

26 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

27 apprehended   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
• The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。

28 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

30 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？