VOA慢速英语:US Farmers Keep Eye on Immigration Reform

Farmers in the United States are experiencing a shortage of people to work their fields. The workers they do have are mostly from Latin America but enter the country with false documents. Farmers say that without immigration reform, both problems will continue.
美国农民正面临农田工人减少的问题，现有的工人大多来自拉美，当都是以虚假证件进入美国的。农场主表示，如果不进行移民改革，这两个问题都将继续。

Imperial Valley is an agricultural area near the border of the western state of California and Mexico. Temperatures there are always above 38 degrees Celsius in the summer month, as a result, not much grows in the Imperial Valley at this time of year, but in the winter the fields are filled with lettuce and celery. And in the spring, farmers grow foods like cantaloupes and watermelons.
帝王谷是位于西部的加州和墨西哥接壤处的农业地区，当地气温在夏季总超过38摄氏度，因此，每年的这个时间帝王谷都没种什么。但在冬天，这里的田地里满是生菜和芹菜。而在春天，农场主会种植哈密瓜和西瓜等。

There is work to do in the fields in the summer, Francisco Saucedo uses farm equipment to prepare the land for planting in the autumn. He lives in Mexico and wakes up in the middle of the night everyday, so he can avoid long lines at the border crossing.
夏天田里有活可干，弗朗西斯科•萨瑟多使用农具准备秋天播种的土地。他住在墨西哥，每天半夜起床，这样就能避免过境的长队。

Mr Saucedo says that if he did this kind of work in Mixico, he would earn about $6 a day. But in the United States, he makes as much as $90 a day.
萨瑟多说，如果在墨西哥做这类工作，能一天挣6美元。而在美国，一天可挣90美元。

Farmer Larry Cox says growing and harvesting vegetables depends on immigrants or day laborers from Mexico, but he says not enough migrants are crossing the border.
农场主拉里•考克斯说，种植和收获蔬菜要依靠来自墨西哥的劳工，但他说过境的移民并不足够。

"We have had a chronic shortage of help almost for the last 10 years."
“在过去10年里，我们这里长期缺乏帮助。”

Larry Cox says it has been difficult getting visas to work in the United States, as a result, many farm workers from Latin America carry fake documents.
拉里•考克斯说获得美国工作签证一直都很难，所以许多来自拉美的工人都使用假证件。

Western Growers President Tom Nassif says there are about 11 million workers in the United States with false documents, over 1 million of them work in agriculture.
西部农场主协会的主席汤姆•纳斯夫称，美国大约有1100万携带假证件的工人，其中有100万以上从事农业。

Mr Nassif has been working with American lawmakers on immigration reform. He supports of bill to legalize the workers who are already in the United States. The bill will provide a way for the workers to become American citizens in the future. The Senate has approved the measure.
纳斯夫一直在移民改革问题上与美国议员进行合作，他支持将美国现有工人合法化的法案，该法案将为该工人未来成为美国公民提供途径，参议院已经批准该法案。

The United Farm Workers Foundation represents the farm workers. It supports the Senate bill. The group's Erica Lomeli says immigration reform will improve the working conditions of many migrants.
美国农场工人基金会代表了美国的农场工人，该组织支持参议院的这项议案。该组织的埃里卡•洛美莉说移民改革可以改善许多移居者的工作条件。

"So they will have a right to stand up for themselves and not be intimidated or in many states be put in slave-like positions."
“这样他们就可以争取自己的权利，不会遭受恐吓，不会在很多州被当做奴隶看待。”

American Jack Vessey owns a farm. he says without immigration reform, the labor shortage on farms will continue, as a result, he says, Americans might have to pay more for fruits and vegetables.
美国人杰克•维有家农场，他说如果没有移民改革，那么劳动力缺乏的问题将继续存在，这样一来，美国人在水果和蔬菜上就得花更多钱。