
新闻媒体对特朗普政府实施的极具争议性的移民执法措施进行了广泛的全国性报道,例如边境逮捕行动以及移民与海关执法局(ICE)在内陆地区活动的升级。但媒体很少报道那些可能获得两党支持的执法措施。以下是四项值得双方共同赞扬的举措。
The news media has provided extensive, national coverage on polarizing immigration enforcement measures taking place under the Trump administration, such as border apprehensions and the escalation of ICE activities in the interior of the country. But it hasn’t provided much coverage of enforcement measures that might have bipartisan support. Here are four that should be celebrated — on both sides of the aisle.
联合特遣队阿尔法:根据司法部长办公室的说法,跨国人口走私网络“不仅试图从剥削移民中牟利,还经常让他们遭受暴力、受伤,甚至死亡”。2020年10月至2021年6月期间,国土安全部营救了4000多名被走私者遗弃在西南边境的移民。2020年,该部门还发现了250名在前往美国途中死亡的移民。
Joint Task Force Alpha: Transnational human smuggling networks “not only seek to profit from the exploitation of migrants, but also routinely expose them to violence, injury, and even death,” according to the Office of the Attorney General. Between October 2020 and June 2021, the Department of Homeland Security rescued more than 4,000 migrants who had been abandoned by smugglers along the southwest border. And it found 250 migrants in 2020 who had died during their journey to the U.S.
2021年6月7日,拜登政府宣布成立联合特遣队阿尔法,该特遣队将利用司法部和国土安全部的调查与起诉资源,调查并起诉“从萨尔瓦多、危地马拉和洪都拉斯等北三角国家,以及从墨西哥贩运和走私、剥削并危害移民前往美国的网络”。现任政府延续了拜登政府的这一特遣队,并将其范围扩展至海上边境和与加拿大接壤的北部边境。
On June 7, 2021, the Biden administration announced the establishment of Joint Task Force Alpha, which would use the investigative and prosecutorial resources of the Justice Department and Homeland Security to investigate and prosecute the “human smuggling and trafficking networks that exploit and endanger migrants to the United States from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and from Mexico.”The current administration has continued the Biden administration’s task force, and expanded it along maritime borders and the northern border with Canada.
自2021年成立以来,特遣队的行动已导致483人以上被捕、436人以上被定罪,并实现了“大量”没收。
Since its creation in 2021, task force activities have resulted in more than 483 arrests, more than 436 convictions, and “substantial” forfeitures.
无人陪伴外籍儿童:大多数在边境被捕的无人陪伴外籍儿童会被移交给难民安置办公室,由该办公室照管,直到他们能够被安置给监护人。
Unaccompanied alien children: Most unaccompanied alien children who are apprehended at the border are transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which takes care of them until they can be placed with sponsors.
在拜登政府期间,超过47.9万名儿童被转介给难民安置办公室。当该办公室因需要处理如此之多无人陪伴的未成年人而不堪重负时,它放宽了对担保人的审查。
More than 479,000 children were referred to the Refugee Resettlement office during the Biden administration. When the office became overwhelmed by having to process so many unaccompanied minors, it relaxed sponsor vetting.
卫生与公众服务部监察长的一份报告对2021年初获释儿童中的样本进行了调查,发现担保人筛查和后续跟进程序存在问题。报告称,在16%的案例中,一项或多项担保人安全检查“缺乏任何表明检查已进行的文件记录”。在被释放给担保人、但联邦调查局指纹检查或州儿童虐待登记处检查仍待完成的儿童中,19%的档案从未更新结果。在35%的案例中,担保人身份证明文件存在清晰度问题,而在22%的案例中,难民安置办公室未能及时进行安全与福祉跟进电话。
A Health and Human Services inspector general report on a sample of children released in early 2021 found problems with sponsor screening and follow-up procedures. In 16 percent of the cases, it says, one or more sponsor safety checks “lacked any documentation indicating that the checks were conducted.”Among children released to sponsors with pending FBI fingerprint or state child abuse registry checks, 19 percent had files that were never updated with the results. Sponsor identification documents had legibility problems in 35 percent of the cases, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement failed to conduct timely safety and well-being follow-up calls in 22 percent of the cases.
特朗普政府已试图找到这些失踪儿童,并优先起诉那些提交虚假担保申请的人。
The Trump administration has tried to locate these missing children, and has prioritized the prosecution of individuals who have submitted fraudulent sponsorship applications.
剥削外国农业工人:在9月15日发布的新闻稿中,司法部宣布了一项起诉书,指控五名被告参与欺诈H-2A签证项目的计划。该项目帮助农民在国内工人短缺时填补临时或季节性工作岗位。
Exploiting foreign agricultural workers: In a press release issued Sept. 15, the Justice Department announced an indictment charging five defendants with engaging in a scheme to defraud the H-2A visa program. This program helps farmers to fill temporary or seasonal jobs when there is a shortage of domestic workers.
起诉书进一步指控,被告未遵守H-2A要求,并且他们要求工人在能够申请H-2A签证或开始就业之前付款。起诉书还指控,他们通过没收农业工人的护照并以暴力威胁他们,阻止这些工人在美国离开工作岗位。
The indictment alleges further that the defendants did not comply with H-2A requirements and that they demanded payments before the workers could apply for H-2A visas or begin employment. And it alleges that they prevented the agricultural workers from leaving their jobs in the United States by confiscating their passports and threatening them with violence.
美国佐治亚州南区联邦检察官玛格丽特·E·“梅格”·希普表示:“我们将继续与联邦、州和地方机构合作,保护这些工人,维护H-2A项目的完整性,并起诉那些将合法就业项目变成牟利和虐待工具的人。”
U.S. Attorney Margaret E. “Meg” Heap for the Southern District of Georgia said, “We will continue to partner with our federal, state and local agencies to protect these workers, safeguard the integrity of the H-2A program and prosecute those who turn a lawful employment program into a vehicle for profit and abuse.”
国土安全特别工作组:特朗普总统在题为“保护美国人民免受入侵”的行政命令中,指示司法部和国土安全部在全国所有州设立国土安全特别工作组。该命令指示司法部长、国土安全部长以及州和地方执法机构携手合作,“以终结犯罪卡特尔、外国帮派和跨国犯罪组织在美国各地的存在”。迄今为止,已有59个特别工作组办公室,拥有9000多名人员和440个州及地方执法机构合作伙伴。
Homeland Security task forces: In his executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” President Trump directed the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to establish Homeland Security task forces in all states nationwide. The order directs the attorney general, the Homeland Security secretary, and state and local law enforcement agencies to work together “to end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations throughout the United States.”To date, there are 59 task force offices, with more than 9,000 personnel and 440 state and local law agency partners.
反对特朗普政府移民政策的人不应反对政府设立的每一项执法举措。起诉人口走私者和暴力犯罪组织、保护无人陪伴的外籍儿童以及防止外籍工人受到剥削,这些目标理应得到两党的支持。
Opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration policies should not be opposing every enforcement initiative the administration establishes. Prosecuting human smugglers and violent criminal organizations, protecting unaccompanied alien children, and preventing foreign workers from being exploited are objectives that should have bipartisan support.
诺兰·拉帕波特曾被借调至众议院司法委员会,担任行政分支移民法专家三年。此后,他在移民、边境安全和索赔小组委员会担任移民法律顾问四年。在司法委员会工作之前,他曾在移民上诉委员会撰写裁决书20年。
Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an executive branch immigration law expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years.