时间:2018-12-11 作者:英语课 分类:2006年VOA标准英语(六月)


英语课

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
20 June 2006



Illegal immigrants detained by US Border Patrol  
  
As debate over immigration continues to heat up, much of the focus so far has been on the existence of millions of illegal immigrants in the United States. The Senate recently examined a different angle on the issue, toughening sanctions against the employers who hire illegal workers.


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Twenty years ago, sweeping 1 immigration legislation, known as the Immigration and Reform Control Act, was passed into law. There were three million illegal immigrants in the country then, and the predominant concern was how to control immigration.


The Department of Homeland Security's Stewart Baker 2 told the Senate Judiciary subcommittee the situation today is much the same - only now, his agency estimates the number of illegal immigrants in the United States has quadrupled, to about 12 million people.


He says the 1986 act made it illegal for employers to hire people who had entered the country unlawfully, but he adds that that measure has not been effective. "We thought just making it illegal to hire illegal immigrants and requiring ID would solve the problem. Instead, employees who wanted jobs or who were here illegally, just got fake IDs. They made up fake Social Security numbers, and that was the end of the enforcement mechanisms," he said.


Baker said he supports the institution of an electronic verification system, through which his department can cross-check names and Social Security numbers with the Social Security Administration. But he also called for tougher penalties on employers who break the law. "As the President [Bush] said, some of the penalties that are in the law now are less than a speeding ticket in many jurisdictions 4. We've got to substantially increase those, and we've got to particularly increase them very aggressively for repeat offenders," he said.


The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, or ICE, has been stepping up its efforts against employers who hire illegal workers. ICE's Julie Myers told the senators about a March raid that resulted in criminal charges and heavy fines against the owners of a restaurant chain that employed undocumented workers and kept them in living conditions she described as deplorable.


"At the same time that the aliens were suffering, the owners of these restaurants had created a lavish 5 lifestyle for themselves, purchased themselves several houses, fancy cars. Fortunately, the ICE agents were able to criminally arrest them on money laundering 6 charges and harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage. We seized their assets. We seized eight luxury vehicles and ten bank accounts. The owners have since pleaded guilty to these felony charges, and agreed to forfeit 7 approximately $1.1 million in assets," she said.


Myers said ICE also conducted raids in April and May, with similar results. She added that this differs sharply from the past when employers would have been issued only a small fine. "The owners would have likely escaped even a misdemeanor charge and the maximum fine would have been $20,000 or $30,000. And, in many cases, that would have been negotiated down to something even further. With such a paltry 8 end result, it is not surprising that the old employer sanction regime had simply become a cost of doing business," she said.


As U.S. lawmakers discuss immigration reform, immigrants rights groups say they are concerned that lawful 3 immigrants could become victims of stepped-up enforcement efforts.


Cecilia Munoz, of the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, points to errors in the system that still need to be fixed 9. "In 2002, the Department of Justice conducted a study of the basic pilot and found that a sizable number of workers, who were found by the program not to be work-authorized actually were work-authorized, about four percent of the verifications. If you multiply that by 54 million or so new hires every year, a four percent error rate means about two million American workers every year could face denials and delays in employment because of government error," she said.


She called that an "unacceptable level" and said for groups like hers, building in mechanisms to address errors that affect large numbers of people is an important consideration



1 sweeping
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
2 baker
n.面包师
  • The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
  • The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。
3 lawful
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的
  • It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
  • We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。
4 jurisdictions
司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 ); 裁判权; 管辖区域; 管辖范围
  • Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
  • James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。
5 lavish
adj.无节制的;浪费的;vt.慷慨地给予,挥霍
  • He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
  • The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。
6 laundering
n.洗涤(衣等),洗烫(衣等);洗(钱)v.洗(衣服等),洗烫(衣服等)( launder的现在分词 );洗(黑钱)(把非法收入改头换面,变为貌似合法的收入)
  • Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 forfeit
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物
  • If you continue to tell lies,you will forfeit the good opinion of everyone.你如果继续撒谎,就会失掉大家对你的好感。
  • Please pay for the forfeit before you borrow book.在你借书之前请先付清罚款。
8 paltry
adj.无价值的,微不足道的
  • The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
  • I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了,如果你不能振作你那点元气。
9 fixed
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
学英语单词
abdul-mejid i
acantharia chaetomoides
accept for
air medical quarantine station
ambitious
arenaria takasagomontana
armorplate glass
Arthropoma
ascry
bankers' association
Barkeyville
billericas
break sb of smoking
capacitance law tolerance
capital loans
cartologist
cationic polyelectrolyte
certified cheques
chateau-bottled socialist
cholesterol compound
combined quantity
Corpus maxillae
cranking enrichment
crystalline melting point
curved quadrangle
diaonidia cinnamomi
dirl butter
ectogeny
elaeagnoides
Eleutherius, Saint
Embioptera
facial contacted wire rope
family gentianaceaes
fender beam
flat-topping
flatbed trailer
fluoroimmunoassays
freezing level
genus Paleacrita
gluiness
high-speed test
human language technologies
hypertrophic lupus
immunovirology
infundibular stenosis
inorganic dissolved component
kokoda
longitudinal dam
loose scale
lyoniums
make up
mapped storage
Meehania pinfaensis
meridianal parts
mold fitter
no bargain
non-zero-sum game policy
nonrelativistic approximation
nonspheres
nonvenomous
ntsb
oinochoe
olliest
one's complement code
one-particle irreducible diagram
orchella
pale resin
pilot spotting telescope
plant mites
polysacharide
postthrombotic
quality control of food
queebs
receiving transducer of ultrasonics
ritanserin
Rolling EPS
root harvester
rothas
runround
Salix heterochroma
Samgar-nebo
sampling camera
shell plate development
shoring-ups
signal-to-background
Siuruanjoki
Skibbild
spacer region
spare wheel
specialty shop
spirostichies
strong packing
subarctic convergence
swing-bridge
Sφnderjylland Amt
tape speed
TORTOS
unshepherded
unshield twisted pair
user defined message
warning blinker
woolly thistle