2007年VOA标准英语-Immigration Legislation Threatens Businesses th

By Jeff Swicord
Cambridge, Maryland
21 June 2007
 

Efforts are currently underway to revive stalled immigration legislation in the U.S. Senate and bring it to a vote before the congressional recess¹ in early July.  In the meantime, businesses that depend on seasonal² foreign workers are anxiously following events.  Jeff Swicord reports on one small business in Cambridge on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

For three generations the J.M. Clayton Seafood³ Company has processed crabs⁵ from the Chesapeake Bay and sold the sweet meat throughout the United States. 

Everyday during crabbing⁶ season, the bay's watermen bring thousands of crabs to the company's dock where they are steamed and picked by mostly Mexican workers who enter the U.S. through a legal guest worker program.  Jack⁷ Brooks⁸ now owns the seafood company started by his greatgrandfather.

"Without the temporary workers, we close,” says Brooks.  “And [if] we close for one year, we close for good. It is the end of what we do."

Years ago, the Brooks family hired seasonal American workers to pick crabmeat from April through November.  But as the town of Cambridge on Maryland's Eastern Shore grew, so did the job opportunities.  Most of the American workers have moved on to better paying year-round jobs.

"I would love to employ domestic workers and have the local folks come and work like the old days,” adds Brooks.  “But with all the opportunities, they are just not here."

Government documentation is required for the guest worker program

Each year, Jack Brooks works through the four to five month process of documenting his foreign workers with state, federal, and Homeland Security officials. 

They must approve the immigration application for workers like Olga Gonzalez.  She leaves her four-year-old daughter and aging parents in Mexico and travels to Cambridge to work for five to eight months of the year.

"It is very hard to find work where I live in Mexico and it is for very little money," says Gonzalez.

32-year-old Consuelo Martinez has made the trip from Mexico to the Maryland Eastern shore for nine consecutive⁹ years.  She says she can earn $70 to $100 a day picking crabs, more than she can earn in a week in Mexico. 

"It is hard because sometimes we get sick, we don't have money to go to the hospital, we need to pay for the house, and we can not find any money over there so we come here," says Martinez.

The Mexican workers are hired under a guest worker program that the U.S. Senate is debating whether to reduce and eventually eliminate.  That upsets Jack Brooks who says the so-called H-2B guest worker program is critical for his business to survive.

Immigrant workers

"I will tell you that the H-2B program that we have is a great program that works,” explains Brooks.  “It's a legal program, it is a model program for many others that is critical.  You know we hang in the balance of what the folks in Washington decide to do."

Expensive condos now line Cambridge's inner harbor where crab⁴ picking houses once were.  The Brooks family is concerned that the culture of the Chesapeake Bay and their way of life may soon be lost.

The fate of this small business and its Mexican workers is in the hands of lawmakers in Washington.

1 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

2 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

3 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

4 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

5 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 crabbing   

v.捕蟹( crab的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We ought not to begin by crabbing everything. 我们不应当一开始就对一切事情采取吹毛求疵的态度。 来自辞典例句
• The boss is always crabbing about my work. 老板对我的工作总是横挑鼻子竖挑眼。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。