美国国家公共电台 NPR The Wait To Become A U.S. Citizen Lengthens

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The line of immigrants applying to become U.S. citizens has become longer. There's been a backlog¹ of citizen applications for years, but it has increased dramatically since President Trump² took office. As NPR's Richard Gonzales reports, immigrant advocates say this has become the Trump administration's second wall.

SAMUEL BIANCO: OK. And this is a question you need to remember...

RICHARD GONZALES, BYLINE³: On a recent evening, three immigrants are sitting in a small airless room in San Francisco for a free citizenship⁴ class. Their instructor⁵ dictates⁶ some key facts about American civics, slowly, so they can take notes.

BIANCO: The president lives in the White House. Congress makes new laws.

GONZALES: The instructor, Samuel Bianco, works for the International Institute of the Bay Area, a group that provides legal immigration services. Bianco's students are lawful⁷, permanent residents preparing for the U.S. citizenship test and interview. But for some applicants⁸, the hardest part may not be the test. It may be in getting an appointment to take it, says Samuel Bianco.

BIANCO: Before the 2016 election, generally, applications would take four, five, six months to process. And now, they're taking 10 months to a year.

GONZALES: The wait is longest in cities with large immigrant communities. In Washington, D.C., it can take up to 16 months; New York City, 21 months; Atlanta, 22 months.

DIEGO INIGUEZ-LOPEZ: This is, in the best situation, a form of ineffective bad government.

GONZALES: Diego Iniguez-Lopez is with the National Partnership⁹ for New Americans, a coalition¹⁰ of immigrant advocacy groups.

INIGUEZ-LOPEZ: In the worst-case scenario¹¹, it's a form of voter suppression from an agency that's becoming more and more a part of the Trump administration's agenda against immigrants.

GONZALES: Iniguez-Lopez's organization has studied the backlog that it calls Trump's second wall. According to the most recent government data, there are more than 750,000 pending¹² applications for citizenship. That's almost double the number in 2014 and up nearly 20 percent since Trump took office. Administration officials reject the idea that they are anti-immigrant. They say there's a simple explanation for the backlog - more people are applying to become citizens. And they point out that the total number of people who are naturalized each year has remained virtually unchanged.

But there are other factors that have slowed down the process. First, during the Obama administration, the citizenship application doubled in size to 21 pages. Then, the Trump administration made the interview process even more rigorous. Instructor Samuel Bianco says that can be time-consuming.

BIANCO: Students are coming back, and they're talking about being asked about every single bit of information, no matter how minute it may be, in that application. And so yes, we feel that the citizenship interview is tightening¹³.

GONZALES: One of Bianco's students, Dennis, spends hours preparing for his interview.

DENNIS: And the Civil War and the World War II, World War I...

GONZALES: He's a former diplomat¹⁴ and asked that we only use his first name because he fears reprisals¹⁵ against his family in Venezuela. Dennis says he's already submitted his application with his fingerprints¹⁶ and paid the $725 fee.

DENNIS: Yeah. It's very - I am nervous (laughter).

GONZALES: Dennis says he's worried about passing but tries to imagine how he'll feel the day he becomes a citizen.

DENNIS: I am - celebrate. I am very happy. I feel very good for...

GONZALES: Dennis's interview and citizenship test is scheduled for next week. He's been waiting 10 months.

Richard Gonzales, NPR News, San Francisco.

1 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

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 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。

4 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

5 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

6 dictates   

n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• Convention dictates that a minister should resign in such a situation. 依照常规部长在这种情况下应该辞职。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He always follows the dictates of common sense. 他总是按常识行事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 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。

11 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

12 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

13 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

14 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

15 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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》