美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump's Migrant Family Policy Now Moves To The Courts

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The controversy¹ over the Trump² administration's policy - now reversed - to separate migrant families has now shifted to the courts. On Thursday, the Department of Justice asked a federal judge in California to change limits on the government's detention³ of families. And today, in another courtroom in California, a different federal judge will hear arguments on the fate of more than 2,300 children who've already been separated from their parents. NPR's Richard Gonzales joins us now from California to talk about these legal battles. Hey, Richard.

RICHARD GONZALES, BYLINE⁴: Good morning.

MARTIN: The president issued this executive order this week, reversing his policy to separate families. So he's going to keep them together in detention. But that clearly hasn't put an end to this issue, right?

GONZALES: Well, no, not at all. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are two outstanding issues. First, what happens to the children who are sent to shelters for young migrants while their parents were detained separately? The executive order did not say how or when they would be reunited.

The second issue is that the administration appeared to give itself a loophole to resume family separations if, in the government's view, keeping a parent and child together poses a risk to the child's welfare. Here's ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt.

LEE GELERNT: We're, in short, going to ask the court to order prompt reunification of that 2,000-plus kids who have already been separated and to issue an injunction laying down standards when the government can separate in the future.

GONZALES: I should add here that we contacted the Justice Department, and it had no comment on this case.

MARTIN: OK. So I understand the ACLU is going to make these arguments related to an existing case. What do we know about it?

GONZALES: Well, all eyes have been on the case the ACLU brought in San Diego against family separations. It involves a Congolese woman who sought asylum⁵ at a port of entry near San Diego, and her 7-year-old daughter was whisked away to a youth shelter in Chicago. The mother and daughter were finally reunited four months after being separated, but the ACLU says her due process rights were violated. And it wants a judge to clarify what Trump's executive order means. That judge in this case, Dana Sabraw, a Bush appointee, is holding a conference today to discuss how the case should proceed.

MARTIN: As we also noted⁶, the administration is asking another judge for leeway to carry out the executive order. What can you tell us about that case?

GONZALES: This is a separate court case. It involves what's known as the Flores settlement that basically lays out how long an immigrant minor⁷ can be detained and under what conditions. It's been going on for quite a while, since before 1997. In 2015, federal Judge Dolly Gee⁸ in Los Angeles ruled, that under the settlement, children couldn't be detained in jail-like settings for very long. And an appellate court later ruled no more than 20 days.

Now, the government wants to hold minors⁹ together with their parents for as long as it takes for their criminal and immigration cases to be heard. And that can often take way longer than 20 days. The administration also wants the families to be housed in facilities that are not state licensed¹⁰, as is now required by the Flores settlement.

MARTIN: So what happens if the Trump administration doesn't get what it wants from the court?

GONZALES: Many court watchers think the administration won't prevail. Judge Gee is still overseeing the Flores settlement. No one expects her to reverse course now. But the government believes that immigrants come here knowing that can't be detained for more than 20 days and most likely will be released into the U.S. until their court hearings. And the administration wants to detain the families indefinitely until they either win asylum or are deported¹¹.

MARTIN: All right. NPR's Richard Gonzales for us. Thanks so much.

GONZALES: Thank you.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 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。

3 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。

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 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

8 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

9 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

11 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》