密歇根新闻广播 边境现状令人担忧

 

It was a tense and emotional visit for Democratic lawmakers at Border Patrol facilities in Texas where migrant families are being detained.

Twenty-one members of Congress, including Michigan's Rashida Tlaib visited the facilities Monday.

"It was emotional for me because, as a child of immigrants, as a person who knows parents will do so much for their children and sacrifice so much," Tlaib said. "When you're face-to-face for the first time with a parent that has been separated from their children, it was not only emotional, but it was also devastating¹, that me, as a member of Congress under the current administration, even though I've been I've been voting against any further funding of this, still felt helpess. How do we address this issue?"

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector² General issued a strongly worded report warning about the "dangerous overcrowding" in Border Patrol facilities in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.

"We are concerned that overcrowding and prolonged detention³ represent an immediate⁴ risk to the health and safety of DHS agents and officers, and to those detained," they wrote in the report.

Earlier this week, it was reported that there was a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents. ProPublica reported that, in this group, members "joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration" of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

"I had just found out about the Facebook group that over 9,500 border patrol officers were part of," Tlaib said. "We only have 20,000 agents across the country, so half of those are part of some sort of Facebook page where they were threatening or basically saying throw things at the members of congress, they were upset that we were coming."

Tlaib said learning of this right before entering the facility made the situation tense, however, she noted⁵ that the group didn't come to blame those working there, because although the system is broken, it wasn't the agents who created the problem. Rather, she said, it was the country's leadership that created the problematic policy.

"I told one of the agents, I can sense you're angry with me, but I'm not angry with you. Because you know why? I don't expect you to know how to solve this, Tlaib said.

Listen above to the full interview to hear Tlaib describe the living conditions, discuss the counter-protestests, and talk about what can be done about the humanitarian⁶ crisis.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

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 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

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 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。