美国国家公共电台 NPR--39 migrants are dead in a fire at an immigration facility in Mexico

39 migrants are dead in a fire at an immigration facility in Mexico

Transcript²

A fire at an immigration facility in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico has killed 39 migrants and injured 29 others.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

At least 39 people are dead after a fire at an immigration detention³ center just across the U.S. border in Mexico. Video from the scene shows what appear to be bodies covered by silver blankets lined up outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez. A statement from Mexico's National Immigration Institute says another 29 people were injured. James Fredrick is a journalist and a documentarian who covers migration¹. He joins us now from Mexico City. James, Mexico's immigration institute also said that - in a statement that they reject, strongly reject, the acts that led to this tragedy. They didn't exactly explain what those acts were. Do we know so far what has happened?

JAMES FREDRICK: Yeah, that statement from the National Immigration Institute was pretty vague and ominous⁴. And then later in his morning press conference, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador clarified exactly what they meant by that. He said this fire started when migrants at this facility protested when they found out they were going to be deported⁵. According to him, they lit sleeping pads on fire at the entrance to the sleeping area of this facility. And that caused the fire that caused this terrible tragedy. I mean, the other - some other things we know so far is that there were 68 people in this facility. And all of them were either injured or killed in this fire. And so the big question that hangs over this right now is, once the fire started, did anyone open a door to let people out? There were no staff that were injured or killed in this fire that we know of so far. But all of the migrants were affected⁶ by it. So that's the real question, is what happened once the fire started?

MART?NEZ: Did Mexico's president give any details or identification information about the victims, like where they're from?

FREDRICK: Yeah. So we know a little bit so far. He said most of them are from Central America and that some were from Venezuela. I mean, this mostly checks out with what the demographic of migrants and asylum⁷-seekers here in Mexico is like. And the other thing we know is that they were all adult men, as the migration institute mostly splits men, women and children up once they're detained.

MART?NEZ: I described the facility as a detention center earlier, James. What is it about this facility? It's just feet - right? - just a few feet from the border?

FREDRICK: Yeah, exactly. I mean, this is just a few feet south of the main bridge that connects El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. So this is a temporary processing center that was set up in 2019. This has happened a lot in recent years in Mexico, as it has increased its immigration enforcement in line with the U.S. So there are lots of temporary facilities like this one. I didn't know this one specifically. But these temporary facilities in general don't have great services. They're not set up to hold people for a long amount of time. And it's - you know, generally, migration facilities in Mexico do not have a very good reputation. They're usually pretty dirty, poor facilities. And we don't have any sense of what kind of emergency protocols⁸ they may have had or not had.

MART?NEZ: OK. So when it comes to getting in line with U.S. immigration policy, we've got to bring up Title 42. That's the Trump-era immigration restriction⁹ brought in during the pandemic. It's going to expire in May. It's allowed the U.S. to turn asylum-seekers back to Mexico. James, wondering how big of a part that might have played in what's unfolding at the border?

FREDRICK: Well, I mean, to understand what a city like Ciudad Juarez is like for migrants right now, I mean, it all starts with Title 42 and U.S. policies right now. So what Title 42 allows the U.S. to do is it allows them to simply expel people back into Mexico. So that's a change from the way things were before. And so what this means is that, first of all, it's harder for asylum-seekers in Juarez to cross into the U.S. and ask for asylum because they'll just be turned around back into Mexico.

And the other thing is that in these quick expulsions, it creates just this loop where people are crossing multiple times. And so cities like Ciudad Juarez are temporary homes to thousands of migrants at any one time. It's put a huge strain on shelters and the humanitarian¹⁰ sphere in the city. It means that lots of migrants are living in the street right now. It's very visible. So migrants are very desperate. And so when the president describes migrants protesting, angry that they're going to be deported, I'm not surprised to hear it because that's the state of migration in Mexico right now. It's a really, really desperate situation.

MART?NEZ: That's James Fredrick, a journalist and documentarian who covers migration. James, thank you.

FREDRICK: Thank you.

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 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。

3 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。

4 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

5 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》

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 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。

8 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

9 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

10 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。