美国国家公共电台 NPR Resettlement Groups Glad For Stay Of Trump's Refugee Plan, But Still Worried

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The legal battle over the executive order means refugees and local resettlement agencies in the U.S. are facing uncertainty¹. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang checked in with some refugee groups in Pennsylvania and has this report.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE²: Many resettlement agencies are relieved refugees can once again come to the U.S. now that a federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump³'s executive order that suspended the refugee program. But this open door could close at any moment depending on what the appeals court decides. That leaves many refugees and workers at resettlement agencies in limbo⁴, including Omar Mohamed. He's a case manager for Church World Service of Lancaster, Pa.

OMAR MOHAMED: I don't know how long I will have this job because we are thinking of there will be some layoffs⁵ if this continues.

WANG: These local agencies worry they will no longer get the federal funding they need to provide services not only to new arrivals but also to refugees still getting settled into their new country.

MOHAMED: We are going to visit a Somali family that came recently.

WANG: How recently?

MOHAMED: I think they came three weeks ago.

WANG: Omar Mohamed says there's still a lot of work for case managers to do with refugees.

MOHAMED: Everything is new to them - this new culture, new people, new language. We have to teach them from zero.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING)

MOHAMED: Hi, Mohamed.

MOHAMED MUHAMED: Good morning.

WANG: Mohamed Muhamed recently moved into this three-bedroom apartment with his wife and their four kids. Muhamed fled Somalia when he was 3 years old. He waited 23 years in a refugee camp in Ethiopia to be resettled. And in 2014, after multiple interviews and security screenings, he finally moved by himself to central Pennsylvania, where he now works as a forklift driver. His wife and children joined him here 10 days before Trump announced his temporary ban on refugees.

MUHAMED: They good luck.

WANG: You feel like you have good luck?

MUHAMED: Yeah, I feel very, very happy. I laughing (laughter).

WANG: In Philadelphia, Paw Wah doesn't know if she'll ever see her family reunited. She escaped persecution⁶ as a member of the Karen community, an ethnic⁷ minority in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Last year, she moved out of a refugee camp in Thailand with her husband and their three young children. They left behind their eldest⁸ daughter, who's 25.

Paw Wah planning to make a meal of fish paste, vegetables and soup to welcome her daughter to Philadelphia last month until Trump issued his refugee order. She and her daughter talked on the phone recently. She explains in Karen.

PAW WAH: (Through interpreter) Sometimes we talk about her departure from Thailand. But later on, the traveling was canceled.

WANG: And her flight hasn't been rebooked yet. Her case is being handled by the Nationalities Service Center. That's the refugee resettlement agency in Philadelphia that would help her once she gets off the plane. Betsy Jenson works at the center. She says that while they're waiting for more refugees, they're certainly prepared. They've seen an uptick of donations in clothing, furniture and household goods since Trump's election.

BETSY JENSON: Things would be going out, and new things would be coming in constantly. But we're sort of in this place of, like, everything's kind of...

WANG: Just sitting here.

JENSON: Yeah, just sitting here, waiting, waiting for families.

WANG: Jenson says they've also heard from a lot of people in Philadelphia who want to help.

JENSON: We actually just closed off our volunteer applications for the moment just because we've sort of reached capacity.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: So let's begin (unintelligible).

WANG: Back in Lancaster, a group of leaders from different refugee communities recently met to discuss what more they can do. Joseph Sackor is a former refugee who fled civil war in Liberia before he became a U.S. citizen.

JOSEPH SACKOR: We, the refugees and immigrants that are qualified⁹ to vote - we have to show at the polling stations in numbers.

WANG: Sackor says it's time for more refugees to register to vote once they get citizenship¹⁰ and to reach out to elected officials for themselves and for others hoping to build a new life in America. Hansi Lo Wang, NPR News.

1 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。

2 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。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

5 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

6 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

9 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。

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。