US Immigration Reform Likely a Significant Issue in Race for

 

Dan Robinson

Congressional Democrats¹ have presented principles for immigration reform they say will be fairer than what President Bush has proposed. The announcement sets up an election year battle between Democrats and Republicans over immigration.
The president's immigration proposal, which he outlined in early January, would give legal status to millions of un-documented immigrants, and create a temporary program to match foreign workers with jobs Americans are not willing to take.
Mr. Bush used his State of the Union address to underscore the advantages he sees in the plan. "This reform will be good for our economy because employers will find needed workers in an honest and orderly system," he said. "A temporary worker program will help protect our homeland allowing border patrol and law enforcement to focus on true threats to our national security."
While the proposal has received a warm reception in some quarters, notably² among immigrant workers from Mexico and Central America, it has also been criticized by Hispanic-Americans including key Hispanic leaders in Congress.
Congressman³ Luis Gutierrez is the chairman of the Democratic party Immigration Task Force. "Simply acknowledging the need for our sweat, our toil⁴ and hard work is not enough. Simply recognizing our vital role in the workforce⁵, to the bottom line of companies like Walmart, is not enough. I suggest you all get used to these words because we will repeat them again and again, to the president and to all members of Congress. We cannot have our work, you cannot have our work, if you don't give us our basic rights to go along with that work. Simply creating a permanent underclass for immigrants is not only unfair and unjust, it is unacceptable to the needs of our nation and unworthy of our nation's history and its heritage."
Mr. Gutierrez joined House Democratic leaders to announce what they call "comprehensive immigration reform principles."
He said President Bush deserves credit for tackling the issue of a "badly broken" immigration system, but adds that the Bush proposal fails to provide a "fair and clear path to permanency and citizenship⁶."
And in an indirect reference to charges that political motivations in this election year underly the president's proposal, Mr. Gutierrez says, "What is tough about seeking real reform is that you cannot compromise, and we will not compromise, our core principles because it might be politically expedient⁷." Robert Menendez is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus⁸. "Our principles recognize that if there is an American worker who wants to do any of these jobs that they should first have the opportunity and we should be clear that we seek to ensure that no American worker is displaced. But by the same token, the reality is that for those immigrants who are hunched¹⁰ over every day making sure we [can] put fruits and vegetables on our table, for those who are plucking chicken in Arkansas, for those who are on their knees scrubbing bathrooms in hotel rooms and in people's private homes across the landscape of America, we are collectively receiving the benefit of millions of people who are doing the work that we cannot get Americans to do." Whatever immigration reform emerges, Congress will have to approve a new law. Groups representing Hispanic Americans want to be sure it includes labor¹¹ and legal rights to prevent abuse of workers.
Michelle Waslin is a senior immigration policy analyst¹² with The National Council of La Raza, an organization working to reduce poverty and discrimination in the U.S. Latino community. "We need a new temporary worker program that provides legal channels for people to come here. But that also has adequate labor protections to protect both American workers and immigrant workers and we need to provide a path to permanent residency and citizenship for those workers who decide to make the U.S. their permanent home."
Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants currently in the United States range as high as ten million.
Immigration, along with national security and the economy, has been a key issue among Democratic candidates for president this year, and is likely to be just as significant in the contest between President Bush and a future Democratic nominee¹³ for the White House.

注释：
underscore [7QndE5skC:] vt. 强调
patrol [pE5trEul] n. 巡逻机队（艇队）
notably [5nEutbEli] adv. 尤其，特别
toil [tCil] n. 辛苦，辛勤工作
go along with 一起去
permanent [5pE:mEnEnt] adj. 永久的
heritage [5heritidV] n. 传统
deserve [di5zE:v] vt. 值得
permanency [5pE:mEnEnsi] n. 终身事业
motivation [7mEuti5veiFEn] n. 动机，动力
compromise [5kCmprEmaiz] n. 妥协
hunch⁹ [hQntF] n.（美俗）预感；疑心
scrub [skrQb] v. 洗擦
discrimination [dis7krimi5neiFEn] n. 歧视，区别对待

1 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》

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 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。

7 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。

8 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

9 hunch   

n.预感，直觉

参考例句：

• I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉，他并不真正想去。
• I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。

10 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。