美国国家公共电台 NPR Tracking Trump On Immigration: Despite Focus, Many Ideas Are Stalled Or Blocked

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Trump¹ is calling for a fundamental overhaul² of how the United States handles immigration. The president unveiled the proposal at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden yesterday. His plan favors immigrants who are younger and more educated.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We discriminate³ against genius. We discriminate against brilliance⁴. We won't anymore once we get this passed.

GREENE: Now, immigration, of course, has been a major focus for the Trump administration, but many of its efforts to reshape and restrict who is admitted to the U.S. have been blocked either by the courts or by Congress, and this proposal may be next. NPR's Joel Rose covers immigration and joins us in our studios in Washington. Hi, Joel.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE⁵: Hey, David.

GREENE: All right. So the president has a plan that would prioritize so-called merit-based immigration. I just wonder, like, what is the criteria⁶ that they would use in terms of who to admit?

ROSE: Right. Well, like you said at the top, it would favor immigrants who are younger, who have more education, more skills, more income, who speak English and who can pass a civics exam. All of that would be a really big change in how we do legal immigration in this country, a shift away from family reunification - you know, reunification based on family ties - which has been the basis of our immigration system for decades now. And also, this would mean shifting away from, you know, certain humanitarian⁷ immigration, like the refugee resettlement program.

GREENE: It sounds like the reaction so far from Congress has been very negative - and not just from Democrats⁸.

ROSE: Yeah. That's right. Immigration hard-liners don't really like this plan either because it wouldn't actually reduce legal immigration. It would just change the profile of the people who can come in, but it would keep the overall number of new green cards at about the same level as now, at about a million per year. And Democrats don't like it because it doesn't really address their big concerns on immigration, including what to do about the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants who are already here in the country. And Democrats control the House, so you really can't pass legislation without them.

GREENE: But could it be because his approach so far hasn't really worked? I mean, what is his track record so far in getting some of the changes he's talked about?

ROSE: It's mixed. Some of the administration's most ambitious efforts to restrict immigration have been stymied⁹ by the courts. The administration has tried to punish so-called sanctuary¹⁰ cities, for example, that limit their cooperation with immigration authorities. Courts have widely rejected those efforts. Today, a court in California will consider whether the president can use a national emergency declaration to redirect money to build his signature wall on the southern border.

And there are other administration efforts that are still in the pipeline¹¹. The administration has talked about punishing immigrants who use food stamps or who get subsidized health care or live in public housing. And finally, the administration has run into a fair amount of trouble trying to limit who can get asylum¹² in this country. Remember the family separation policy of a year ago?

GREENE: Right.

ROSE: That was supposed to deter¹³ migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S., but the president had to walk it back under intense pressure, and migrants are still arriving in big numbers at the southern border.

GREENE: But, I mean, it's fair to say he's gotten some of his - the crackdown and tougher approach that he's wanted.

ROSE: For sure. You know, the Supreme¹⁴ Court upheld his travel ban on immigrants and visitors from seven countries, including several majority-Muslim countries. Deportations and arrests are way up since Trump took office. The administration has cut refugee admissions to their lowest level in decades. Those are maybe the high-profile changes that have gone through. But the administration's also made a lot of smaller changes to rules and regulations, and immigration experts say those things may really make a big difference when you add them all up.

GREENE: NPR's Joel Rose covers immigration for us. Joel, thanks so much.

ROSE: You're welcome.

1 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。

2 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

3 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

4 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

5 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。

6 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 stymied   

n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句
• I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

10 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

11 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

12 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。

13 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。