The disturbing images of children being torn from their parents were troubling enough.

孩子們被從父母身邊奪走的畫面，已經夠令人不安了。

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing their options of housing immigrant children at military bases.

據報導，川普政府正在考量，用軍事基地來安置兒童難民。

How did the United States get here?

美國是怎麼走到這個地步？

In the last 15 years, America has taken in more refugees than anywhere else in the world.

在過去的 15 年中，美國收容的難民數量超過了世界上任何一個國家。

A fraction of those refugees, asylum seekers, have grown in recent years to the point of overwhelming the current system, and now the country is at a tipping point.

這些難民中有一小部分是尋求政治庇護者，近年來，他們人數已經增加到使現有機制不堪負荷的地步，美國現在正處於臨界點上。

The legal definition of a refugee is someone who isn't able to live safely in their home country, or has a really strong reason to fear that they won't be safe if they stay.

難民的定義是指無法在自己的國家安全的生活，或者有充分的理由擔心，如果他們待下去將有安全顧慮的人。

Persecution that is racial, religious, political or national — or targeting what's called "a particular social group.”

種族，宗教，政治或民族，或針對所謂的「特定社會群體」的迫害。

Someone who's been persecuted can apply for refugee status in their home country or in the first country that they flee to.

遭受迫害的人，可以在自己的國家，或是他們逃往的第一個國家申請難民身份。

Where they might apply in a refugee camp for example.

例如，他們可能在難民營中提出申請。

An asylee is a refugee.

一個尋求政治庇護者，就是難民。

It's just that, they've already arrived at another country, like the United States, and fear going home.

只不過是，他們已經到了另一個國家，例如美國，並且害怕回自己的國家。

Here's how it works.

申請政治庇護程序是這樣的。

Asylum seekers must fill out the i-589 application, a 12 page form.

尋求庇護者必須填寫 12 頁的 i-589 申請表。

If that sounds complicated for someone fleeing an oppressive homeland, don't worry — there's a 14 page instruction booklet to help.

如果對於一個在家鄉受壓迫而逃離的人而言似乎太複雜，不用擔心 - 有一本 14 頁的說明書可以幫助你。

Both the form and the instructions are only available in english.

表格和說明書都只有英文版本。

And the i-589 has to be filled out in english, or it'll get sent back.

而且 i-589 必須用英文填寫，否則將被退件。

Not every asylum seeker necessarily understands the process, or has the resources to kind of go about it exactly the right ways.

並非每個尋求庇護者都一定了解這個程序，或者是有足夠的資源讓他能以正確的方式進行這一程序。

Customs & Border Protection itself has been accepting very few people in recent weeks who are presenting themselves for asylum.

最近幾週，「海關與邊境保護局」只受理了極少數申請庇護的案件。

So people are waiting to be allowed to set foot in the U.S. and claim asylum for, you know, two weeks on bridges in Ciudad Juarez in the heat of summer.

因此，人們正等待着被允許進入美國申請庇護，你知道，在夏日的酷暑中，要在華雷斯市 (美墨邊境) 的橋上待上兩個星期。

At a certain point it starts to seem like a safer option to go in between ports of entry and risk breaking the law.

在某種程度上，冒者違法的風險偷渡進美國似乎是一個更安全的選擇。

If someone enters the United States without papers, they can't even file an asylum application until they convince the government — in person — that they're in danger at home.

如果有在人沒有合法證件的情況下進入美國，他們甚至不能提出庇護申請，除非 - 親自 - 說服美國政府，他們在家鄉是處於危險之中。

This is called “credible fear.”

這稱之為「迫害恐懼可信度。」

They're detained and given at least 48 hours before their credible fear interview, but asylees often must wait much longer.

在進行「迫害恐懼可信度」面談之前，他們至少會被拘留 48 小時，但通常申請庇護者必須等待更久的時間。

If the fear isn't deemed “credible,” an asylum seeker can be deported pretty much immediately, unless they file an appeal.

如果這種「迫害恐懼」不被認為是「可信的」，尋求庇護者可以立即被驅逐出境，除非他們提出上訴。

If that fear is deemed credible, or the appeal is successful, they wait for a judge to review their application.

如果這種「迫害恐懼」被認為是可信的，或者是上訴成功，他們將等待法官審查其申請。

Yeah, this is where the process gets very complicated depending on the circumstances of the case.

是的，這個過程會變得非常複雜，取决於案件的具體情况。

An asylee might have a judge sympathetic to their case, or one with a stricter view.

可能有法官會同情他們的案子，也有法官會採取更嚴格的態度。

They might end up waiting comfortably with family, or they may be held in a detention center.

他們最後可能會和家人一起舒舒服服地等待，或是被關到拘留所。

And in spring 2018, they could even have been separated from their children, under Trump administration policies.

而在 2018 年春天，在川普政府的政策下，他們甚至可能已經被迫與子女分開。

China has historically had the most applicants for asylum to the United States, and that hasn't changed.

向美國尋求政治庇護的人中，來自中國的歷來佔了最多數，而且這一情況沒有改變。

But applications from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have increased 234% in the past 3 years, with more applicants in that time period than the previous 17 years combined.

但是在過去三年中，薩爾瓦多、瓜地馬拉和洪都拉斯的申請人數增加了 234％，該期間的申請人數超過了過去 17 年的總和。

This area is called the northern triangle.

該地區被稱為北方三角地區。

Civil wars and political unrest from the 1950s through the 1980s left institutions unstable.

從 1950 年代到 1980 年代的內戰和政治動亂，使這些國家的社會動盪不安。

Violence, extreme poverty, and crime stemming from drug and gang activity is widespread.

普遍存在著，暴力、赤貧，以及由毒品和幫派活動引起的犯罪事件。

Asylees fleeing this area aren't responsible for the danger they live in — they're trying to escape it.

該地區的難民無力面對生活在危險之中的困境 ─ 所以他們正在設法逃離。

In the Northern Triangle, it's a little more complicated, because instead of talking about persecution by the government we're talking about often persecution by gangs.

在北方三角地區，情況稍微複雜一些，因為我們談論的迫害，不是來自政府，而是來自黑幫。

So, whether they qualify for asylum is up for interpretation by immigration judges.

因此，他們是否有資格獲得庇護，取決於移民官的認定。

And, all of this is being debated while the current system is straining just to keep up.

並且，這些情況都還存在著爭議，以致目前的制度面臨極大考驗。

The backlog of asylum caseloads has surged since 2012.

自 2012 年以來，積壓的庇護案件數量激增。

And immigration attorneys have cited waits as long as 5 years.

移民律師也證實，等待審核的時間長達 5 年。

The Trump administration thinks that the solution here is to make it harder to even pass the initial screening interview.

川普政府認為，目前的解決方案，就是用更嚴格的初審面試，在第一關就將之淘汰。

If you think of the asylum system as a multi-stage process, which it is, that starts with you know asking for and getting a credible fear interview, and ends with finally getting asylum.

如果把庇護機制視為一個多階段的過程，實際上的確是的，這個過程就是從你獲得「迫害恐懼可信度」面談開始，直到獲得庇護為止。

People are falling off at every stage of that process.

在該過程的每個階段，人數都在遞減。

Very few people who start by asking for credible fear screenings in the U.S. are ultimately getting their asylum claims approved at the end.

一開始就要求在美國進行「迫害恐懼可信度」審查，而最終能獲得申請庇護成功的人，為數極少。

They essentially may be deprived of due process in trying to get asylum and so people who do have legitimate persecution claims are going to get sent back which theoretically is exactly the outcome that this entire system is set up to prevent.

他們基本上在尋求庇護的過程中，可能被剝奪了應有的合法訴訟程序，反使得那些真正因被迫害而申請庇護的人將被遣送回國，理論上來說，這正是整個機制想要防止的，結果卻是適得其反。