VOA慢速英语2014 Obama to Announce Executive Order on Immigration

 

AS IT IS 2014-11-20 Obama to Announce Executive Order on Immigration

President Barack Obama soon is expected to announce his decision on what to do with millions of undocumented immigrants. These migrants left their home countries and entered the United States illegally. The president is expected to approve an executive order that would save them from being sent back home.

Francisca has lived illegally in the United States for nine years. Her two children are U.S. citizens because they were born in the country. But just last month, her husband was returned to Guatemala. Now, Francisca worries she is next.

She says, “I do not want to take my children from here because here is where their future is.”

Pro-immigration groups have brought U.S.-born children to protest in front of the White House. Brandy Hernandez was one of the demonstrators.

“I want to tell President Obama to stop taking people’s parents away.”

She and Francisca are two of the estimated millions who would be affected¹ by the president’s executive order. Mr. Obama is expected to give temporary help to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States longer than five years and U.S.-born children. The president says he is acting² because Congress has not.

But Republicans say an executive order so important like this one threatens the constitutional separation of powers. Under the system, Congress passes laws and the president’s job is to enforce those measures.

Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama serves in the U.S. Senate.

“The president is not entitled to make law, to conduct actions contrary to plain law. The president simply cannot say, ‘Well, Congress didn’t act, so I have to act.’”

Presidential spokesman Josh Earnest says the Obama administration is studying the constitution. But he is leaving open the possibility of Congress taking action.

“The president has indicated that he would happily throw away whatever, any executive actions that did not enact³ in favor of bipartisan legislation.”

Jack⁴ Martin is with a group called the Federation⁵ for American Immigration Reform. He says immigration is a complex political issue for both sides.

“It falls right at the intersection⁶ of the efforts of the Democrats⁷ to solidify⁸ their support from the Latino community, that is the most interested in the immigration issue, and the problem for the Republicans of balancing grass-roots interests and business interests, as well as interest in attracting the Latino vote.”

Observers say an order from the office of President Obama would be general guidance – one that could be a model for executive orders for future presidents.

Words in This Story

immigrants - n., people who arrive in a country to live there

illegally - adj., not legal; in violation⁹ of the law

order - n., a command; the correct or normal way things are organized; a peaceful situation in which people obey laws; v., - to give a command; to tell someone what to do

citizens - n., people who are members of country, either by birth or by law

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

4 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。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

7 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》

8 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

9 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。