VOA慢速英语2021 美墨边境逮捕的非法越境人数创20年新高（在线收听）

United States officials caught 171,000 people trying to illegally cross the U.S. border with Mexico last month. That is 178 percent more than in February.

美国官员上周逮捕了17.1万试图非法越过美墨边境的人士。这比二月份增加了178%。

Most of the people are trying to escape difficult conditions in Central America and Mexico.

大多数人都是为了逃离中美洲和墨西哥的艰难处境。

The Reuters news agency reports that more people tried to cross the border in March than at any time in the last 20 years.

路透社报道称，3月份试图越境的人数比过去20年的任何时候都要多。

About 99,000 of the total were single adults. The rest included almost 19,000 children traveling alone and about 53,000 family members traveling together.

这其中有大约9.9万人是单身成年人。剩下的包括近1.9万名无人陪伴儿童，以及大约5.3万名一起出行的家庭人员。

Children who arrive at the U.S. border alone are not sent back immediately. They are housed in "processing centers." However, the centers are designed for many fewer people and now are overcrowded.

独自抵达美国边境的儿童不会立即被遣返。他们被安置在“处理中心。”然而，这些中心是为少量人设计的，现在已经人满为患。

As a result, the U.S. government opened emergency shelters in Dallas, Texas and San Diego, California. But those are also getting full.

因此，美国政府在德州达拉斯以及加州圣地亚哥开设了紧急避难所。但是这些地方也快住满了。

President Joe Biden has said the "vast majority" of families who arrive together at the border are being sent back. However, information from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that might not be the case. More than half of the 19,000 people who arrived as part of family groups were not sent back in February. Many were released into the U.S. and were required to appear at an immigration court at a later time.

拜登总统表示，一起到达边境的绝大多数家庭都被遣返回国。但是，来自美国海关和边境保护局的信息表明事实可能并非如此。二月份，以家庭为单位抵达的1.9万人当中，有半数以上没有被遣返。许多人被释放进入美国，并被要求稍后在移民法庭出庭。

Reuters also looked at documents from three separate days in March that showed fewer than 14 to 16 percent of family members were sent home on those days.

路透社还查看了3月份不连续3天的文件，结果显示这些天只有不到14%到16%的家庭成员被遣返。

Sarah Peck is a spokeswoman from the U.S. Department of Homeland security. She said, "one day or week of statistics doesn't reflect the full picture."

萨拉·佩克是美国国土安全部发言人。她说：“一天或一周的统计数据并不能反映出全貌。”

She added that it is still the government's policy to send families away. However, Mexico, the country from which the migrants entered the U.S., is not always able to receive them. So they are sent to an immigration court.

她还表示，美国政府的政策仍然是遣返家庭成员。然而，作为移民进入美国的前一个国家，墨西哥并不总是能够接收他们。所以这些人被送去了移民法庭。