2006年VOA标准英语-Hispanic Activists Urge Building Coalitions

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
11 July 2006

Hispanic activists¹ meeting in Los Angeles hope to see immigration reform in the United States, but say reform efforts seem to be stalled in Congress. The members of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy group, say coalition²-building may help resolve the impasse³.

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Hispanic conference worker and delegate  
  
Congress remains⁴ bitterly divided over the question of how to resolve the status of 11 to 12 million people, mostly Hispanic, who live in the United States illegally. Last December, the House of Representatives passed an immigration bill that focuses on border security, and would treat illegal immigrants as felons⁵. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the measure.

Another bill, passed by the Senate in May, would provide a path to citizenship⁶ for many illegal immigrants, while meeting employer needs for an immigrant labor⁷ pool through a guest-worker program. Neither bill will become law unless the House and Senate resolve the differences.

Rosanna Tapia shows a petition for comprehensive immigration reform, that the organization will submit to Congress  
  
Most Democrats⁸ support the Senate bill, which was introduced by Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy and Republican John McCain. President Bush, a Republican, has praised the senate effort, and called for a compromise. But opponents of the senate bill, who are mostly Republican, say it rewards illegal immigrants for breaking the law.

Bruce Goldstein of the group, Farmworker Justice in Washington D.C., believes the parties can come together, despite what appears to be a congressional stalemate.

He says that two divergent groups found common ground on another issue, agreeing to provisions for a guest worker program in agriculture. A bill to implement⁹ the program is now working its way through Congress. While passage is not certain, Goldstein says the bill's supporters achieved a milestone¹⁰ in getting the backing of both farm workers and the farmers and agribusinesses they work for.

"If it can be done in agriculture, which historically has had tremendous labor-management conflict, then it can be done anywhere," said Bruce Goldstein. "Employers ultimately need productive workers. Workers need jobs. There's got to be a way of working that out. And in the context of the Farmworker compromise, that's what they recognized."

But the Latino community is also divided over immigration reform. Some Latinos demand an immediate¹¹ amnesty for illegal immigrants, and a path to citizenship. Critics say an amnesty was offered once before, in 1986, and that another would be unfair to those who follow the rules and are waiting in line to immigrate¹² legally.

Immigration reform cannot pass without support from both Republicans and Democrats, and most Latino leaders court both parties. Others refuse to cooperate with those who support policies that they view as half-way measures.

Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane¹³ Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles sees a broad alliance emerging of labor, religious and human rights groups, despite their differences.

"I think the challenge is how does the different type of leadership work together for their common purpose, and not say we're better than you, and we see things in a more progressive way, or we're more pure because we don't get our hands dirty in the policy work," said Angelica Salas. "But at the end of the day, just understand that everybody has a role. And I think it comes down to the individual and the individual organization saying, What is the best I can do in order to advance just and humane immigration laws?"

Don Kerwin of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network in Washington is confident that immigration reform will happen, sooner or later.

"I think it's inevitable," said Don Kerwin. "It may not happen this year. There may not be the kind of positive legislation that we need this year, but you have 11 million undocumented people in the country. You have the peaceful protests that have occurred over the last year, so the ground has really shifted, and it looks like there has to be some kind of positive solution over the next two, three years."

Former president Bill Clinton addressed the opening session of the conference Saturday, and he urged Latinos to assure other Americans that they are equally concerned with border security and the rule of law.

He said undocumented workers make up five percent of the workforce¹⁴, and that it would be impractical¹⁵ and inhumane to deport¹⁶ them. Besides, he added, the U.S. economy relies on their labor.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 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。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

10 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

11 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。

12 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。

13 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

14 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。

15 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

16 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。