亲历者亲述：家人花费7年时间才来到加拿大，我不确定是否有政党真正支持移民......

Yasmeen Awadh, wearing a grey shirt on the left, sponsored her parents and sister to immigrate to Canada. Her family is pictured at home in Toronto in 2019. 左边穿着灰色衬衫的亚斯明·阿瓦德（Yasmeen Awadh）资助她的父母和妹妹移民到加拿大。图为她的家人 2019 年在多伦多的家中。

“这大概要花七到八年时间。”

我紧紧握着电话听筒，听着我所在选区国会议员的工作人员解释移民流程。她的语气中带着歉意。

"It's going to take about seven or eight years."

I gripped the phone handset tighter as I listened to my local MP's staff member explain the immigration process. She sounded apologetic.

• It's going to take：将要花费（时间）；常用于口语中表示未来的计划或预测

• about 这里表示不确定的估计，日常口语中常见

• gripped … tighter：更紧地握住

• phone handset：电话听筒

• MP：Member of Parliament，议员（加拿大是议会制国家）

• staff member：工作人员

• apologetic：adj. 抱歉的，带歉意的，常用于形容语气或态度

After applying to sponsor my parents and sister to immigrate to Canada from Kuwait in early 2009, I hadn't heard anything in many months.

• applying to sponsor：申请担保；“sponsor”在移民语境中指为亲属提供经济支持并担保其合法身份的人。

• immigrate to Canada：移民到加拿大

• I hadn't heard anything：现在完成时的否定形式，表示从申请后到现在都没有得到任何信息。

Anyone who has ever had to deal with Canadian immigration matters knows the federal government's website is rarely accurate about wait times. A friend told me if I contacted my constituency office, it could look into it on my behalf and I'd get an answer faster. A few days later, I received the call.

• immigration matters：移民事务。

• rarely accurate：几乎不准确，“rarely”表示频率很低。

• wait times：等待时间

• constituency office：议员在选区设立的服务办公室。

• look into it：调查，研究某事

• on my behalf：常见固定搭配：代表我，为我做某事

• I'd get：是“I would get”的缩写，用于虚拟语气或非真实条件句中。

"There's a huge backlog … so many want to reunite with their family," my MP's staff member continued. I thanked her and hung up.

• huge backlog：大量积压，指未处理的案件或申请；移民类内容中常见表达

• reunite with their family：与家人团聚；“reunite”是动词，强调“重新团聚”的含义

• hung up：挂断电话；是“hang up”的过去式

I felt dejected. This news about the wait time meant I needed to stay employed to meet the financial requirement for the sponsorship. I'd already gone through two layoffs in the previous 18 months, as this was around the time of the 2008 financial crisis.

• dejected：形容词，意为“沮丧的，情绪低落的”，比sad更正式、程度更深。

• stay employed：保持有工作的状态

• financial requirement：经济要求；在移民担保中，申请人需证明有足够收入。

• sponsorship：担保；尤其指家庭类移民担保。

• layoffs：裁员（复数）；“go through two layoffs”意为“经历了两次被裁”。

• financial crisis：2008年金融危机

I felt chained. I had to remain employed because a denial at any point in the process would mean I might have to start all over again, which would set the timeline back even further. Other plans — like wanting to work abroad for a year — were also quashed.

• felt chained：感到被束缚住了，“chained”来自“chain”（链条），这里是比喻用法

• remain employed：持续就业，“remain”比“stay”更正式

• denial at any point：任何阶段的拒绝

• start all over again：重新从头开始

• set the timeline back：延长时间进程

• quashed：被压制、终止（尤指计划或希望）

But it was a no-brainer. My family was the priority. My parents and sister eventually moved here as permanent residents in October 2016. The woman was right: it took 7½ years.

• no-brainer：不需要动脑筋的事，引申为“毫无疑问的选择”，非常口语化的表达

• the priority：优先事项

• eventually：最终，经过一段时间之后；在时间轴上表示事情最后实现

• permanent residents：永久居民，加拿大移民系统中的关键术语，常被缩写成PR

Awadh, centre middle row, says having her immediate family with her in Canada made her feel supported as she navigated a medical diagnosis. 阿瓦德（ 中排中间）说，她的直系亲属都在加拿大，这让她在接受医疗诊断的过程中感受到了支持。

It's also why immigration is top of my mind in this upcoming federal election.

• top of my mind：直译“在我脑海的最上方”，意为“我最关心的问题之一”，是非常口语化的表达

• upcoming：即将到来的，常用于事件、选举、会议等

• federal election：联邦选举，加拿大每四年举行一次，全国性的大选

Citizenship has always been a forefront issue in my Kuwaiti Filipino family because we come from places where both citizenship and civil rights can be taken away in an instant.

• forefront issue：最前沿的问题，意指“最重要的议题”。

• civil rights：公民权利，包括投票权、言论自由、法律面前平等等基本权利。

• in an instant：瞬间，非常快地；强调不稳定或易受威胁的状况

当我搬到加拿大时，就像感觉到一股清新的空气。我常对新朋友说，在我们老家，有些人因为身份问题连孩子的疫苗接种证明都拿不到，甚至办个驾照都要跳各种荒唐的手续。他们听了都难以置信。我把这种反应视为一个信号：我们这个加拿大社会，绝不会让这种事发生。

When I moved to Canada, it felt like a breath of fresh air. I would tell my new friends that back home some people couldn't even get a certificate of vaccination for their children because of their civil status or had to jump through ridiculous hoops just to get a driver's licence. Their reaction was disbelief. I took it as a sign that we, as a society here in Canada, would never let that happen.

• a breath of fresh air：一股清新的空气，引申为“令人耳目一新的体验” 用于形容积极的转变

• civil status：民事身份，可能指居留身份、婚姻状况等；有时会影响公民服务的获取

• jump through hoops：经历繁琐的程序；直译“跳圈圈”，比喻不合理或复杂的要求

• ridiculous (adj.) 荒谬的，可笑的
  

• disbelief：不敢相信的反应；常用于描述听者的震惊或困惑

But I was wrong. When Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced a bill in 2015 that sought to separate natural-born Canadians and naturalized Canadians, I was shocked. I believed and, as other civil rights groups argued, it would have made the latter into second-class Canadians. It was a reminder that even in Canada, civil rights are never guaranteed. Luckily for me, the Conservatives were voted out that year.

• natural-born Canadians：出生即拥有加拿大国籍的人

• naturalized Canadians：归化公民，即通过移民程序获得国籍的人

• second-class Canadians：二等公民，指在法律或社会待遇上被区别对待的公民

• civil rights are never guaranteed：强调公民权利可能被挑战或削弱

• voted out：投票罢免/投票使某政党下台

贾斯汀·特鲁多的“阳光路径”让我多少松了口气。我的父母认为他支持移民，这也是他在2015年竞选时的主要政纲之一。

Justin Trudeau's "sunny ways" gave me some relief. My parents see him as pro-immigrant, which was a part of his campaign platform when he ran during the 2015 federal election.

• "sunny ways"：特鲁多提出的政治理念，象征乐观、开放、合作的方式处理政治议题

• gave me some relief：让我稍感宽慰

• pro-immigrant：支持移民的，常用作政党立场的形容词

• campaign platform：竞选纲领，政党或候选人在竞选期间承诺的政策主张

But now, I feel the tides shifting again. Recent news of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada pausing applications for sponsoring parents and grandparents didn't come as a surprise. 

• the tides shifting：潮流在变化，比喻“局势变动、风向转变”

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)：加拿大负责移民事务的政府部门

• pausing applications：暂停处理申请

• didn't come as a surprise：不足为奇

I understand Canada's labour market has certain needs and increasing spots for those immigrants logically makes sense, which takes away from family reunification allocations. But from a personal perspective, I can say having my parents here in Canada helped me immensely.

• labour market：劳动力市场

• spots for those immigrants：移民名额（spots 意为“位置、配额”）

• family reunification allocations：家庭团聚类移民配额

• immensely：极大地，非常，强调影响之深

When I had to deal with a life-changing medical diagnosis, they supported me. Without them, I wouldn't be in a position to pursue opportunities that, in the long run, elevated me to a higher income bracket. They've provided value to me in ways that can't be quantified. In other words, family reunification can help citizens who are already in the country and make them more effective contributors to society.

• life-changing medical diagnosis：改变人生轨迹的医疗诊断，通常指严重疾病

• pursue opportunities：追求机会

• elevated me to a higher income bracket：让我进入更高收入阶层；“income bracket”意为收入等级

• in ways that can't be quantified：无法量化，强调情感、精神或家庭支持等价值无法用金钱衡量

• effective contributors to society：对社会有实际贡献的人

With my experience in Canada's immigration system and the current anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States, I am paying close attention to how these issues are affecting our country.

• anti-immigrant sentiment：反移民情绪，意指社会中对移民的敌意或排斥

• paying close attention to：密切关注；这是表达“特别在意”的常用说法

• how these issues are affecting...：这些问题是如何影响……

For example, there's the issue of rising hate crimes in Canada. There are official statistics, but it's an open secret that people from marginalized groups don't report incidents when they are victims. 

• rising hate crimes：日益上升的仇恨犯罪，针对特定族裔、宗教或性别的攻击行为

• official statistics：官方统计数据

• open secret：人人都知道但没人公开说的秘密

• marginalized groups：被边缘化的群体，比如少数族裔、新移民、LGBTQ+等

• report incidents：报案、举报事件

Will resources be allocated to these challenges? Will there be more support for battling hate crimes towards marginalized communities?

• resources be allocated：资源被分配；“allocate”是分配、投放的正式用语。

• battling hate crimes：打击仇恨犯罪

• marginalized communities：边缘化社群，表达方式较为书面正式，和前文出现的marginalized groups是一样的意思

I'm also looking at the housing platforms for all the political parties and how they plan to address it for newcomers.

• housing platforms：住房政策主张

• political parties：政党

• address it：解决问题，常见动词搭配如address a problem

• newcomers：新移民；移民语境中常用词

If we want to set them up for success, their basic needs (like housing and finding jobs), have to be accessible.

• set someone up for success：为某人成功打基础，是一个积极、鼓励性的表达

• accessible：可获得的，能接触到的。这里指“他们要能负担得起住房、能找到工作”

I don't know if my voting choice can ever be about promises of improving the health-care system or job opportunities a newly elected government can create. Someday maybe.

• voting choice：投票选择

• promises : 承诺

• newly elected government：新当选的政府；是政治新闻中常用的表达

•