美媒:得州“悲惨周末”凸显美国两大政治裂痕
A weekend of tragedy in Texas spotlights two distinctly American political fissures
上周末美国再度上演“血腥周末”,得克萨斯州一家购物中心6日发生枪击事件,一名枪手持AR-15式步枪扫射购物者,造成至少8人死亡。7日上午,得州边境城市布朗斯维尔市的一辆汽车冲入市内一处移民收容所附近的公交车站候车人群,已造成至少8人死亡,12人受伤,据悉一些遇难者已被证实为移民,联邦调查局正在确认其他遇难者的身份。
美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)8日发文称,上周末发生在得克萨斯州的两起悲剧凸显了美国在枪支和移民问题上的两大政治裂痕。
The tragedies were unrelated. But both moments of aching sorrow took place against a backdrop of two of the nation’s most divisive issues, both of which are especially acute inTexasand which fractured national politics has failed to fix– mass shootings and a border crisis.
CNN称,这两起悲剧并不相关。但令人痛心的两起事件背后折射出美国最撕裂的两大问题,即大规模枪击事件和边境危机。这两大问题在得州尤为严峻,而分裂的美国政治却未能解决这些困境。
Suspicion of government runs hot in the Lone Star State. It often appears to exemplify the extremes of American life. It has also had the misfortune of suffering a sequence of shootings, including in a school in Uvalde last year, a Walmart shopping center in El Paso in 2019 and a church in Sutherland Springs in 2017.
文章称,得州民众对政府的质疑愈演愈烈。这里似乎经常成为极端化的美国生活的例证。得州曾发生一系列枪击事件,例如,2022年尤瓦尔迪发生的校园枪击案、2019年在埃尔帕索的沃尔玛购物中心和2017年在萨瑟兰斯普林斯的一座教堂发生的枪击案。
Texas is also expected to be at the center of a different political storm this week with the expiration on Thursday of the Covid-era border restriction that has enabled the US to swiftly expel certain migrants. The anticipated end of the policy, which has been the primary border enforcement tool since March 2020, has already led to an influx of migrants, with fears about a surge after it’s lifted. Republican warnings of a foreign invasion by undocumented migrants have deepened a political vulnerability for President Joe Biden as the administration has struggled to counter claims of a border crisis.
CNN称,本周得州或将成为另一场政治风暴的中心,新冠疫情暴发后美国采取的边境限制措施使其能迅速驱逐某些移民,而该限制将于5月11日到期。自2020年3月以来,该政策一直是美国主要的边境执法依据,在政策即将到期之际已经有移民涌入,人们担心该政策解除后会出现移民激增。共和党对非法移民入侵的警告加深了拜登总统的政治脆弱性,因为拜登政府一直在努力驳斥边境危机的说法。
But as in the case of mass shootings, there is little chance that the nation’s polarized politics will easein order tooffer the space for meaningful resolution. Comprehensive immigration reform failed several times under Republican and Democratic presidents and there is little agreement between or within the parties on how to mitigate the situation at a time when crime, violence and economic blight are exacerbating migrant flows from Central America toward the southern border.
文章写道,但正如大规模枪击事件一样,美国两极分化的政治几乎没有机会缓解,以提供有意义的解决空间。综合移民改革在共和党和民主党总统的领导下屡次失败,犯罪、暴力和经济衰退使更多来自中美洲的移民流向美国南部边境,各党派之间或内部对如何缓解这种情况几乎没有共识。
美国两党关于枪支和移民问题的辩论愈演愈烈,两党互相指责,互相“甩锅”,批评对方的政策将人们置于危险之中。上周末得州的政客又打起了嘴仗:得州共和党州长格雷格·阿博特因提及克利夫兰大屠杀一些受害者的非法移民身份、支持宽松的控枪法律而受到民主党批评。
But Democrats in Texas reacted to Saturday’s shooting by slamming the Republican governor for doing nothing to stop the killing sprees on his watch. State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer warned in a statement that it was “a choice to allow this nightmare of gun violence to continue.”
得州民主党人士就6日的枪击事件抨击这位共和党州长没有采取任何措施阻止得州的杀人狂潮。州议员特雷·马丁内斯·菲舍尔在一份声明中警告,"允许枪支暴力的恶梦继续下去是一种选择"。
但阿博特等共和党人却声称,大规模枪击事件在全美扩散,无论是在控枪法律通常更为严格的民主党州,还是枪支法律更宽松的共和党州,这些问题同样严重。
而7日发生在布朗斯维尔市的悲剧事件也使人们重新关注美国的移民困境和对移民未来的争论。据CNN报道,目前尚不清楚这起悲剧事件属于蓄意袭击还是意外事件。但一位民主党人指责共和党人助长了一种歧视移民的环境。
“While the incident is still under investigation, there is no doubt that our state’s leaders are painting a target on migrants’ backs,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa.
得州民主党主席吉尔伯托·伊诺霍萨说:“虽然事件仍在调查中,但毫无疑问,我们州的领导人正在针对移民。”
New controversy over migrants in Texas comes with the White House under heavy criticism from Republicans over border issues – an issue that has long caused political headaches for Biden, who just launched his 2024 reelection race.
在得州移民问题出现新争议的同时,白宫在边境问题上受到共和党人的严厉批评。长期以来,该问题一直是令刚刚宣布参加连任竞选的拜登头痛的政治问题。
编辑:董静,李蕙帆(实习)