VOA慢速英语--美国政府将更多古巴寻求庇护者遣返古巴

US Government Returning More Cuban Asylum¹ Seekers to Cuba

Pablo Sanchez asked United States officials for asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico. Sanchez was immediately placed in a detention² center. Now, he could be expelled by the U.S. government and sent to Cuba.

Since Donald Trump³ became U.S. president, the government has deported⁴ more than 800 Cubans in the past year. The Trump administration has set sharp limits on who will be considered for asylum. That is coming as a shock for many Cuban asylum-seekers.

For years, the U.S. government had given special privileges to people fleeing the island nation. Even after the collapse⁵ of the Soviet⁶ Union, Cubans were given a sure path to legal residence in the United States in a policy known as “wet foot, dry foot.”

The name relates to the decision to accept asylum seekers who arrive by sea or over land.

But an agreement reached during the final days of Barack Obama’s presidency⁷ ended that policy. Cuba agreed to take back citizens who receive deportation⁸ orders. It also agreed to consider the individual cases of thousands of other Cubans who had received such orders, but stayed in the United States because Cuba refused to take them back.

Since Trump became president, Cubans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border have found the “wet foot, dry foot” policy is no longer in effect. Since last month, another U.S. policy denies protection to asylum seekers who have passed through another country and not asked for asylum there.

Even with the new agreement, Cuba remains⁹ unwilling¹⁰ to take its people back. That makes it difficult for the Trump administration to enforce its aggressive measures against asylum. It also leaves many Cubans in limbo¹¹.

Many, like Pablo Sanchez, are not sure what to make of the situation.

Sanchez is married to Barbara Rodriguez, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Miami, Florida. He was unable to ask U.S. officials in Cuba for a visa to join his wife because the administration removed most of its embassy workers. As a result, Cubans seeking family-related visas are told to go to U.S. diplomatic offices in Colombia or Guyana.

Rodriguez claims Sanchez was facing increasing political threats after learning he was being investigated and could face jail time. He felt like he had get out of Cuba immediately. Sanchez traveled to Nicaragua and through Mexico to seek asylum in the United States. He was detained and sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, for long-term detention.

“This is plain cruel… arriving in this country and demonstrating that you are persecuted¹² and that you have credible¹³ fear. After all, this gets thrown away,” said Rodriguez.

She talks to Sanchez by telephone once a day. “The worse thing is that now I feel all that is left for him is deportation,” she said.

It is unclear how the Cuban government treats people who are deported from the United States. But rights activists¹⁴ say they could face punishment for having asked for asylum.

The Associated Press spoke¹⁵ with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla. He said the increase in deportations results from Cuba “fulfilling its commitment” called for in the agreement it signed with the Obama administration. At the same time, he criticized the U.S. government for cutting embassy services in Havana.

About 21,000 Cubans have presented themselves to U.S. officials at the Mexican border since last October. That is three times higher than the number reported over the past 12 months, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

About 5,000 Cubans have received deportation orders since the new U.S.-Cuba agreement was signed, and 1,300 of them have been deported, say ICE reports.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

reluctant – adj. feeling or showing doubt about doing something

limbo – n. in an uncertain or undecided state or condition

predicament – n. a difficult or unpleasant situation

cruel – adj. used to describe people who hurt others and do not feel sorry about it

previous – adj. earlier in time or order

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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》

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

11 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

12 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

13 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

14 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。