VOA常速英语听力2013年01月（WORD文本）：REPORT-BILLIONS.doc

1、高考资源网（） 您身边的高考专家A two-decade shift in funding has put more staff, equipment and screening capabilities to work protecting U.S. borders. And a recent report by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute says funding last year for immigration enforcement agencies totaled close to $18 billion, more th

2、an $3 billion higher than the combined budgets of the countrys other principal law enforcement agencies.Like so many people in the United States, Claudia Hernandez wakes up every day, goes to work and comes home to take care of her children.Only Hernandez is not a U.S. citizen.I came when I was 13 y

3、ears old, to California. I was, of course, illegal, she said. I was living in California for about 20 years and then I came to Maryland 10 years ago.And after decades living and working in the U.S., the law finally caught up with her. She was facing deportation.If I was going to be deported, then wh

4、o was going to take care of my kids? Who was going to see that my daughter goes to school every day, that shes healthy, that shes fine, that she eats, said Hernandez. Where is she going to go to sleep?With more money being spent on enforcement, deportations have more than doubled over the past decad

5、e, according to the Immigration Policy Center, a non-partisan research group.Groups that help immigrants adjust in the U.S. say theres more fallout.The enforcement factor does play a role and what it more plays a role into is migrants using smugglers and going into organized crime to seek assistance

6、 to cross the border, said Jaime Farrant, executive director of Ayuda, which provides legal services to immigrants.Along the border with Mexico, recent violence has sparked renewed concern.Volunteers from Jim Gilchrists Minuteman Project used to help patrol the border until it became too dangerous.

7、Gilchrist says the $18 billion spent last year on enforcement is not nearly enough.Youre still seeing a rampant intrusion of vehicles bringing drugs or human cargo in or foot traffic bringing drugs and human cargo in, he said.Theres no shortage of emotion when it comes to immigration and previous ef

8、forts at reform have stalled. But there seems to be a growing consensus in Congress that it may be time to try again.George Mason University Professor David Hart hopes thats the case.We also need to talk about the numbers of people who come to the country, what kinds of people we want immigrating to

9、 the country, and we havent really been able to have those discussions because weve been hung up on the border, he said.As for Claudia Hernandez, she considers herself lucky. She fought deportation and won and is now a legal immigrant and shes dreaming of one day becoming a U.S. citizen.Of course, Ive been here more than half of my life, and I respect the United States, she said. This is my country. 高考资源网版权所有，侵权必究！