Members of the Texas National Guard struggle with working conditions at the border

Members of the Texas National Guard struggle with working conditions at the border

Transcript¹

After a controversial border security mission, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott faces criticism. Amid poor living conditions and deteriorating² mental health, four guard members died by suicide.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, deployed³ thousands of National Guard troops on to the border with Mexico over the past year. They've been adding to the border wall and been told to arrest migrants on state trespassing⁴ charges. Initially⁵, this deployment⁶ earned the governor praise from conservatives as he heads into an election this year. But amid poor working conditions and other problems, four members of the National Guard have killed themselves. And now troops are unionizing to demand change. Texas Public Radio's Carolina Cuellar reports.

CAROLINA CUELLAR, BYLINE⁷: A year ago, with a record numbers of migrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border, Governor Greg Abbott announced a new controversial border security program, Operation Lone⁸ Star. Even though judges have ruled that many of the program's policies violate federal jurisdiction⁹ over immigration, Abbott remains¹⁰ committed. Here he is on the right-wing podcast "Ruthless."

(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "RUTHLESS")

GREG ABBOTT: Anybody coming across the border who in any way tries to damage that fence - they are guilty of two crimes. One is trespassing. The other is vandalism.

CUELLAR: Three months before announcing his reelection campaign, Abbott ordered a massive deployment of around 10,000 troops, or about half the state's National Guard, and asked it be done over just two months. Now guard members say they're suffering for it.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARD MEMBER #1: These conditions are just, I think, unparalleled. I mean, really, the only comparison I could draw would be the Hurricane Harvey mission, where we were sleeping in high-school gymnasiums or, you know, other military armories¹¹ that didn't have power.

CUELLAR: We agreed to withhold¹² the guard member's name and alter his voice because he fears retaliation¹³, such as a deployment even further from home. The Army Times first reported problems with Operation Lone Star. Four soldiers died by suicide over the first two months of the mission. And many spoke¹⁴ of poor living conditions, gear shortages and unusually last-minute deployments.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARD MEMBER #1: Having four in such a short period of time seems like quite a coincidence if this mission wasn't at least some contributing factor to it. It's terrible. It's unfortunate.

CUELLAR: Another anonymous¹⁵ soldier said the days are idle because guard members don't feel qualified¹⁶ to make arrests. This lack of purpose makes them suspect they're being used for the governor's reelection campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARD MEMBER #2: No, we absolutely are just political pawns¹⁷ here. And that's - yeah, that's not a good feeling.

CUELLAR: The Texas military department spoke out against the revelations by saying reporters gleaned¹⁸ information from anonymous sources and unverified documents. But Texas Public Radio has firsthand accounts from six members of the guard stationed in different locations across the border. The Texas Military Department, which oversees¹⁹ the National Guard, said it is addressing these issues. But that's happening during rather than before the deployment. Now Abbott is even facing criticism from the right.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ALLEN WEST: Why is this happening? Because we rushed into a failure.

CUELLAR: Allen West is running against Governor Abbott in the GOP primary.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WEST: We decided²⁰ that it was all about a political optic. It was about a political opportunity.

CUELLAR: West is a veteran and attacked Abbott during a campaign speech for looking tough on illegal immigration at the expense of guard members. Governor Abbott says his adversaries²¹ are using the suicides for political gain. He said these cases are still under investigation²². Still, Southwestern University political scientist Emily Sydnor says hearing about guardsmen's experiences could end up swaying some Republican voters in the primary.

EMILY SYDNOR: The stories of the guardsmen who have had sort of terrible experiences in any number of different ways I think, in some ways, will have more of an impact than this overarching sort of statistical²³ story about, you know, numbers of arrests and the safety at the border.

CUELLAR: As for the guard troops, they've begun organizing under the Texas State Employees Union and have already conducted their first official meeting. The union aims to improve soldiers' conditions and ultimately make the mission voluntary so guard members can choose to go home. After the unionization announcement, the Military Department lifted an unpopular curfew and increased the distance soldiers are allowed to travel without a pass. Hunter Schuler is a specialist in the guard and union member.

HUNTER SCHULER: I'd like to think we played at least some small part in helping²⁴ improve, helping get those conditions changed.

CUELLAR: Schuler hopes this means military leadership is now more receptive to their concerns.

For NPR News, I'm Carolina Cuellar in McAllen, Texas.

INSKEEP: Just a note - if you or somebody you know may be considering suicide, there is help available. You can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 800-273-8255 - or the crisis text line. You can send the message HOME to this number - 741741.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 trespassing   

[法]非法入侵

参考例句：

• He told me I was trespassing on private land. 他说我在擅闯私人土地。
• Don't come trespassing on my land again. 别再闯入我的地界了。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

9 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

10 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。

11 armories   

n.纹章( armory的名词复数 )；纹章学；兵工厂；军械库

参考例句：

• The armories were important in the World War II. 兵工厂在二战中是很重要的。 来自互联网
• Can only be used to open the door, such as churches and armories Colored door. 只能用来开门，例如血色的教堂和军械库的门。 来自互联网

12 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

13 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

16 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

17 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 gleaned   

v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗

参考例句：

• These figures have been gleaned from a number of studies. 这些数据是通过多次研究收集得来的。
• A valuable lesson may be gleaned from it by those who have eyes to see. 明眼人可从中记取宝贵的教训。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

20 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。

21 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

22 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

23 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

24 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。