She was being evicted.

她是被驅逐的。

“In April, I lost my job due to Covid.

"4月份，我因為科維德而失去了工作。

So I'm waiting on unemployment, I can't pay…

所以我在等著失業，我不能支付... ...

I'm a mother of a five-month-old…

我是一個五個月大的孩子的母親... ...

And then the eviction date came...

然後驅逐的日期到了... ...

Sorry. It was just a really, really scary time.”

對不起，只是那段時間實在是太可怕了。這只是一個非常，非常可怕的時間。"

Since the pandemic took millions of US jobs in March and April,

自從3月和4月疫情奪走美國數百萬人的工作崗位後。

most workers who make more than $20 an hour have been able to keep working,

大多數時薪超過20元的工人都能繼續工作。

or have returned to work.

或已恢復工作。

But low wage workers, the people most likely to be renters instead of homeowners,

但低工資的工人，最有可能成為租房者而不是房主。

are also the least likely to have gotten their jobs back.

也是最不可能找回工作的人。

Which means that many have started to lose their homes.

這意味著，很多人已經開始失去家園。

“They showed me some paper and it said, 'You got about 30 minutes to get out.'”

"他們給我看了一些文件，上面寫著，'你有30分鐘的時間離開'。"

“This is my check, but I'm not making it with 300 dollars.”

"這是我的支票，但我不會用300美元來賺取它。"

“Their stroller now carries their possessions.”

"他們的嬰兒車現在帶著他們的財產。"

“I have a roof over my head, but I don't know how long that's going to be.”

"我有一個屋頂，但我不知道這要多久。"

America is in an eviction crisis. In the middle of a pandemic.

美國正處於驅逐危機中。在一場大流行中。

But also in the middle of an election.

但也是在選舉中。

So what can the US do about it?

那麼，美國能做些什麼呢？

Even before Covid, the US had much a much higher eviction rate than similar countries.

即使在科維德之前，美國的驅逐率也比同類國家高得多。

1 in 40 renters in the US have been evicted at some point,

在美國，每40個租房者中就有1個曾經被驅逐。

compared to 1 in 89 in the UK, 1 in 227 in Denmark,

相比之下，英國每89人中就有1人，丹麥每227人中就有1人。

and 1 in 25,000 in France.

在法國，每25000人中就有1人。

What a lot of people don't realize is that we were already in the midst of a housing crisis

很多人不知道的是，我們本來就處於房市危機之中。

before Covid-19 hit the United States.

在Covid-19襲擊美國之前。

Alieza Durana collects data on evictions for a Princeton University research project called

Alieza Durana為普林斯頓大學的一個名為 "The Princeton University "的研究項目收集關於驅逐的數據。

the Eviction Lab.

驅逐實驗室。

When we think about the difficulty in finding an affordable place to live,

當我們想到要找到一個經濟適用房的困難時。

one factor is that wages have stagnated for the last several decades.

其中一個因素是，過去幾十年來工資停滯不前。

Since 2001, rents across the US have soared.

自2001年以來，美國各地的租金一路飆升。

But the average household income has barely increased at all.

但家庭平均收入幾乎沒有任何增長。

This gap represents millions of Americans struggling to pay rent.

這個缺口代表著數百萬美國人在為支付房租而掙扎。

And that was before they lost their jobs.

而那是在他們失業之前。

When the pandemic hit the UK, France, Denmark, and many similar countries,

當英國、法國、丹麥和許多類似的國家發生疫情時。

their national governments kept workers afloat while businesses were closed

窮則獨善其身，達則兼濟天下

by directly paying everyone a portion of their salary.

通過直接給每個人支付一部分工資。

In the US, Congress approved temporary extra unemployment money back in March.

在美國，國會早在3月份就準許了臨時額外的失業金。

In some states, Republican lawmakers made that money really hard to get.

在一些州，共和黨的立法者讓這筆錢真的很難拿到。

But for those who got it, that money made it possible for people who'd been laid off

但對於那些拿到錢的人來說，這些錢讓那些被裁員的人有了可能

to keep paying their rent.

以繼續支付其租金。

Then, in July, the payments stopped.

然後，在7月，停止了付款。

Without that extra cash, lots of unemployed people couldn't pay their rent

如果沒有這些額外的現金，很多失業者就付不起房租了

and landlords across the country started filing evictions.

和全國各地的房東開始申請驅逐。

Over the next few months, Democrats in Congress kept trying to pass extra relief.

在接下來的幾個月裡，國會中的民主黨人不斷試圖通過額外的救濟。

And Republicans kept saying no.

而共和黨人一直說不。

In September, amid damaging headlines and sinking poll numbers,

9月，在破壞性的頭條新聞和不斷下降的民調數字中。

President Trump asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue

特朗普總統要求美國疾病控制和預防中心發。

a “temporary halt in residential evictions.”

"暫時停止住宅驅逐"。

But it wasn't quite that simple.

但事情並沒有那麼簡單。

For the order to protect you from being evicted, you had to fill out a form,

為了保護你不被驅逐，你必須填寫一份表格。

certifying under penalty of perjury that you'd tried to get government assistance

在偽證罪的懲罰下，證明你曾試圖獲得政府援助

and make partial payments, among other things.

並進行部分支付等。

And you'd have to find out about that form on your own:

而且你得自己去找那個表格。

Landlords, and housing courts, weren't required to tell tenants about it.

房東和房屋法院，並沒有被要求告訴租客。

Emily filed out the form, and brought it to her eviction hearing.

艾米麗把表格填好，帶去參加驅逐聽證會。

“They didn't even ask for the declaration.

"他們甚至沒有要求申報。

They looked at my landlord and said, What would you like to do?

他們看著我的房東說，你想做什麼？

And they of course said, We would like to move forward with the eviction.”

他們當然也說，我們想繼續推進驅逐工作。"

In an interview on Snapchat in May, former vice president Joe Biden said this:

在5月接受Snapchat採訪時，前副總統喬-拜登這樣說。

“There should be rent forgiveness, and there should be mortgage forgiveness

"應該減免租金，應該減免抵押貸款。

now, in the middle of this crisis.”

現在，在這場危機中。"

Since then, some Democrats in Congress have put forward a “Rent and Mortgage Cancellation” bill

此後，國會中的一些民主黨人提出了 "取消租金和抵押貸款 "的法案。

that would accomplish what Biden described.

這將達到拜登所說的目的。

It would relieve tenants of the burden of any rental debt accumulated during the pandemic.

這將減輕租戶在大流行期間積累的任何租金債務的負擔。

Instead, their landlords could apply for reimbursement from the federal government.

相反，他們的房東可以向聯邦政府申請報帳。

As a longer-term fix to the affordable housing crisis,

作為解決經濟適用房危機的長期辦法。

Biden has also proposed expanding vouchers that help people pay rent.

拜登還提議擴大幫助人們支付房租的優惠券。

Right now, about 5 million households receive the vouchers.

目前，約有500萬戶家庭領取了代金券。

Under Biden's plan, about 16 million would.

根據拜登的計劃，約有1600萬將。

Evictions don't affect all groups of Americans equally.

驅逐對美國所有群體的影響並不一樣。

Black and Latinx Americans are more likely than White Americans to rent,

美國黑人和拉美裔比美國白人更容易租房。

and more likely to be paid poverty wages for their work.

並且更有可能因工作而獲得貧困工資。

The CDC moratorium on evictions is set to expire on December 31.

疾控中心暫停徵遷的規定將於12月31日到期。

After that, if nothing changes, millions of renters could be right back where they started.

在那之後，如果沒有任何改變，數百萬的租房者可能會回到他們開始的地方。

That is a choice that we're making.

這就是我們的選擇。

In our current historic moment, we should really question why this is happening,

在當前的歷史時刻，我們真的應該質疑為什麼會發生這種情況。

and reevaluate the idea of housing as a human right, and how we can put that into practice.

並重新評價住房是一項人權的理念，以及我們如何將其付諸實踐；