2006年VOA标准英语-Businesses Looking for Comprehensive Immig

By Jeff Swicord
Washington, DC
01 May 2006
 
watch Immigration report

One of the major issues before the U.S. Congress is immigration reform. There are many sides to the debate -- including how any changes would affect companies that depend heavily on illegal workers.

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Immigrants being arrested  
  

U.S. immigration agents recently raided a pallet and crate¹ manufacturer as part of a crackdown on illegal workers.

Some companies are worried about how crackdowns and pending² legislation in the U.S. Congress may affect their ability to stay in business.  Employers are not supposed to knowingly hire illegals but sorting out who is in the country legally is not always easy, and those companies depend on a labor³ pool mostly made up of non-Americans.

Shawn McBurney, who represents the American Hotel and Lodging⁴ Association in Washington D.C., says there is a labor shortage.

 
Shawn McBurney
  
"Our members are actually quite concerned. They have had labor shortages for years.  They have tried to hire Americans, they just can't find them.  There are folks that have put out 200-plus ads and have had two applications.  They pay well over minimum wage plus benefits and they still can't find people."

Julian Heron represents the interests of Western U.S. agricultural growers, another industry heavily dependent on foreign workers.  He says his industry has already seen the economic impact of the tightening⁵ of the U.S. borders after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

 
Julian Heron 
  
"In the winter of 2004 the workforce⁶ in the border area was greatly disrupted.  Many of the buses carrying workers, both legal and illegal workers, to harvest this nation's vegetable crop were stopped, sometimes as many as three times a day."

Heron says that resulted in millions of dollars in losses for vegetable growers in Yuma, Arizona and had an impact on other businesses. "The laborers⁷ lose their wages, the truck drivers lose their wages, the cooling sheds lose their wages, the box manufacturers lose their sales, and if we look in the Yuma area were there are about 50,000 heads of lettuce⁸ produced each winter, total loss would be $590 million."

But business experts say the problems don't stop with lost income. They say current laws requiring them to verify documents, such as drivers licenses⁹, presented by immigrant workers to prove they are in the country legally put employers at legal risk as well.

McBurney says documents are requested and accepted based on face value. "There is a series of documents that they must accept at face value.  The law states that if at face value they appear genuine, you must accept them as genuine.  If the employer questions that, they can be fined for civil rights violations¹⁰ under the same law.  

Immigrants working on a farm  
  
Mr. Heron says employers have been wrongfully accused of knowingly hiring illegal workers.  

McBurney adds, "There has been a lot in the press about employer sanctions.  The Congress has tried to put it on the back of the employer to determine who is legal and who isn't.  And that is OK if there is a way to do that.  At present there is no way to do that."

So the challenge for these businesses is to convince Congress not to penalize¹¹ employers for hiring illegal aliens. In an election year, when many voters are worried about the influx¹² of illegals, that could be a tough sell [not easy to do].

1 crate   

vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱

参考例句：

• We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
• The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。

2 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

5 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

6 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

7 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

8 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

9 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

12 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。