VOA慢速英语--最高法院驳回奥巴马移民令

AS IT IS 2016-06-29 Obama’s Immigration Order Blocked by Supreme¹ Court 最高法院驳回奥巴马移民令

President Barack Obama is again urging the United States Congress to act on immigration.

Obama made his latest appeal after the nation’s highest court failed to support his order protecting up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation³.

The Supreme Court released that order last week. The court was split on the issue, with four members agreeing with the president and four others opposed.

The ruling keeps in place a lower court decision that blocked the immigration order.

The president called the Supreme Court ruling, “heartbreaking.”

“I have pushed to the limits of my executive order,” he said. “We now have to have Congress act.”

But congressional action seems unlikely before Obama leaves office in January.

“We know there isn’t much left with this Congress,” said Norm Ornstein, a specialist on U.S. politics at the American Enterprise Institute. Orenstein said the ruling is bad news for the president because he had hoped to make immigration reform an important part of his legacy⁴.

Texas and 25 other states had challenged Obama’s 2015 executive order. It not only protected five million undocumented immigrants from being expelled, but let them have work permits.

Texas Attorney General Ken⁵ Paxton said the Supreme Court did the right thing. The court, he said, “Keeps in place what we have maintained from the very start: one person, even a president, cannot unilaterally change the law.”

The ruling last week is not expected to lead to mass deportations.

Obama says the Department of Homeland Security would continue its long established policy. That means moving slowly on deporting⁶ parents of children who are in the United States legally.

But those adults would not be given work permits, making it harder for them to find employment.

Businessman Donald Trump⁷ is likely to win the presidential nomination⁸ of the Republican Party. Trump has said he would deport² all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

But Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican who lost to Trump in nominating events, said that will not happen -- even if Trump is elected. “The American people wouldn't stand for it,” Rubio, a Florida senator, told CBS television.

Early in Obama’s second term, the U.S. Senate approved a reform in immigration policy that had the president’s support. But the House of Representatives refused to consider the bill.

The Supreme Court divided 4-4 on his executive order on immigration because it does not have a ninth justice to break ties.

The Republican-led Senate has refused to vote on Democrat⁹ Obama’s choice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia died in February. Obama nominated U.S. Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland in March.

Had the Senate confirmed Garland, it is likely the Supreme Court would have overturned lower court rulings blocking Obama’s immigration order.

American Immigration Lawyers Association President Victor Nieblas said the Supreme Court’s decision continues uncertainty¹⁰ for millions of undocumented immigrants. The court, he said, denied parents of United States citizens and students to seek “refuge and protection from a dysfunctional immigration system.”

Roy Beck is head of a group called NumbersUSA, which wants more limits on immigration.

Beck said the Supreme Court’s decision “means that immigration policy, including the power to issue work permits, still belongs to the people through their elected officials in Congress.”

Words in This Story

deportation – n. to be removed from a country for violation¹¹ of its immigration laws

challenge – v. to say or show that something may not be true, correct, or legal

maintain – v. to continue doing something or taking the same position

unilaterally – adv. acting¹² alone

refuge – n. shelter or protection from danger or trouble

dysfunctional – adj. unable to function in a normal way

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

3 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

6 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

7 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。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

10 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。

11 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。