2006年VOA标准英语-Latinos Urge Solution to Immigration Issue

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
31 May 2006

The debate over illegal immigration in the United States has put the spotlight¹ on Hispanics, who make up most of the people who are in the country illegally.  Hispanics are also the largest group of legal immigrants.   Mike O'Sullivan spoke² with members of the large Latino community in Los Angeles to get their views on the subject of immigration.

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The U.S. Census³ Bureau says there are more than 40 million Hispanics in the United States, making up 14 percent of the population.

Most Hispanics, also called Latinos, are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants, but millions are not.  The Pew Hispanic Center says at least 11 million people are in the United States illegally, and more than three-quarters of them are Latino.

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in recent marches, demanding that Congress and the president give them legal status.  A half-million marched in Los Angeles.

Journalist Francisco Castro has covered the demonstrations⁴.  He understands the immigration issue, since he was once an illegal immigrant.

Francisco Castro   
  
"I came here when I was 15," he said.  "I came here illegally in the back of a truck under some wood.  So that's the way I came through the border."

Castro's mother was already in the United States. After she gained legal status under a 1986 amnesty, he obtained residence papers and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Today, Castro is married with a three-month old son, who was born a U.S. citizen.

Maria Castro  
  
His wife, Maria, grew up in Tijuana, a border city in northern Mexico.  Her father lived in Los Angeles.

"He came to work to the United States when I was born," he noted⁵.  "He stayed here for a couple of years with some of my brothers.  So I came to the United States more than once, just to visit my family."

She decided⁶ to move here and came on a visitor's visa, but overstayed it illegally.  She later became a legal resident and this year became a naturalized citizen.

Francisco Castro is a reporter for Hoy, one of two Spanish-language daily newspapers in Los Angeles.   He says the Latino community in the city is diverse.

"You have recent immigrants, from the person who just came last week, let's say from Mexico or Central America or the rest of Latin America, and you have Latinos who have been here 20, 30, 40 years even, who still have very strong roots in the Latino community," he explained.

The Pew Hispanic Center says there are nearly 20 million Latinos in the U.S. workforce⁷.  Many are employed in service industries and some, like Juan Carlos Mendoza, are small business owners.

Juan Carlos Mendoza  
  
Mendoza was one of nine children born to a blind couple in Mexico City. 

"Since we were little kids, we had to help out a lot by working," he said.  "They've always beeqn working people.  And I guess that's what we learned from them, to work, to be good people."

He entered the United States illegally at age 16, crossing the border at night through a muddy tunnel.  His sister and seven brothers also came northward⁸.  Mendoza lost a leg in a traffic accident, but copes well with his disability.  Today, he owns a French-style restaurant called Paul's Café in suburban⁹ Los Angeles. 

He has legal residence papers, and his American-born children are U.S. citizens, including one who is serving in the U.S. army in Iraq.

Mendoza says he is working toward citizenship¹⁰, and that like others from Latin America, he is proud to be here.

Juan Carlos Mendoza and Chef Joaquin   
  
"That's the beauty of this country.  It gives you the opportunity," he explained.  "In our countries, it would be really, really, really hard to succeed."

Another immigrant named Lorenzo has come here twice from Guatemala, once crossing the U.S. border easily south of Los Angeles, and later making an arduous¹¹ journey to Texas after controls had been tightened¹².

"We were lost in the hills, the Mexican hills, around three or five days in the hills, no water, no food, no nothing," he recalled.

He said Mexican police near the border demanded bribes¹³, threatening to kill the Guatemalans.  It took the group a month to make the long journey northward through Mexico. 

At the U.S. border came more hardship.  The group was lost in the desert for two nights, again with no food and water, but they survived.  "Maybe God blesses those," Lorenzo says, "who come here with good intentions."

Lorenzo says life in Los Angeles is good for him and his family, but there is always uncertainty¹⁴.

"You know, there is no peace in your life because you never know if somebody comes and knocks on your door and pulls you out because you are not legal here," he added.

Reporter Francisco Castro says the immigration issue affects nearly all Latinos.

"Whether we have papers or not, because obviously we all know people who don't have those papers, or family members who are back home who would like to come here, perhaps not in the near future, but eventually will want to make their trip over here," he said.

The United States offered amnesty to millions who had entered the country illegally once before, and critics say a second amnesty would be unfair to those who are trying to immigrate¹⁵ legally. 

Many Latinos, however, say that a mass deportation¹⁶ would be even more unfair, dividing up many families. They insist a government program that offers a path to citizenship for those already here could solve the problem.  That is what they hope the president and congress can agree on.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 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。

3 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 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。

8 northward   

adv.向北；n.北方的地区

参考例句：

• He pointed his boat northward.他将船驶向北方。
• I would have a chance to head northward quickly.我就很快有机会去北方了。

9 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

10 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。

11 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

12 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

13 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

14 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

15 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。

16 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。