2006年VOA标准英语-Hiring Centers for Illegal Immigrants Spar

By Melinda Smith
Washington, DC
25 January 2006
 
watch Day Laborers² report

Illegal immigration is a problem that has divided Americans.  While Congress and the White House struggle with the issue of immigration reform, local communities across the nation must deal with the reality of illegal aliens who are willing to take many jobs not filled by Americans. 

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The city of Burbank, California recently required a large home building supply store to set up an adjacent hiring center where residents could find people to fill these jobs.  

 

Day laborers looking for work  
  

Just outside a Home Depot³ store, day workers are waiting to be hired.  It's a good bet the majority are in the United States illegally, and that most are from Mexico.  The Center for Immigration Studies says the average worker in Mexico makes one-tenth of what is earned by his American counterpart.  So there is a strong incentive⁴ to cross the border for better paying jobs, even when some of those jobs are just for the day.

It is a sensitive issue for those who want to hire these illegal immigrants.  One man we spoke⁵ with did not want to appear on camera:

"I do not think it takes away too many jobs from legal residents, but it may ... and it may be encouraging (illegal) immigration only because they know they can find work," he said.

Providing hiring centers for day workers seems to be an emerging national trend.  From southern California to Herndon, Virginia ... it is a buyer's market that is dividing neighbors and workers:

 
Alex Hernandez 
  
"Every day we are here -- more than 200 people at the most,” said Alex Hernandez, a laborer¹. “Forty people get jobs."

"...If the people availing themselves of government services are primarily illegal aliens, I think that's a problem," said a nearby resident.

Those opposed to the idea of providing a hiring center say it's one more way of encouraging illegal immigration.

 
Maryann Cerick
  
"I don't think the town has any business encouraging people to come in,” said Maryann Cerick, a Herndon resident. “It's bringing disease, it's bringing a bad name to the town of Herndon."

But local officials in Virginia and California say they have no other choice.  They say as long as there is a need for workers, the day laborers won't go away, and the hiring centers provide a clean, safe place for them to meet a potential employer.

1 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

2 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

3 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

4 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

5 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。