[(Title)] There's room in America for domestic violence victims

Her husband threatened to kill her if she called them again. She escaped to her father's home and was threatened with death if she did not come back.

她丈夫威胁说，如果她再打电话就杀了她。她逃回父亲家，丈夫威胁她如果不回来，就会杀死她。

She then sought refuge in Guatemala City; her husband promised to change his behavior if she would come home. But once she returned, the abuse resumed. She finally fled.

然后，她在危地马拉城寻求避难；她的丈夫答应在她回家后改变行为。但一旦她回来，虐待行为就会恢复。她终于逃走了。

Her case with its horrific details resulted in the eventual reversal in 2014 of longstanding official U.S. government policy toward asylum seekers in her situation.

2014年，她提出这一令人震惊的细节，美国政府开始对因家暴而寻求庇护者敞开大门。

Since then, victims of violence inflicted by private actors whose countries were unwilling or unable to respond could find refuge in the U.S. So why was that policy abandoned?

自那以后，那些在自己国家无法得到反应的家暴受害者，可以在美国找到避难所。那么，美国如今为什么放弃这一政策呢？

Generally anyone seeking asylum must show persecution based on  "race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion"  as a central reason for their persecution.

一般而言，寻求庇护者必须表明以"种族、宗教、国籍、参加某一特定社会群体或政治见解"为由遭到迫害。

The precedent established four years ago allowed women victims of violence to be regarded as members of a particular social group. Sessions erased that distinction.

四年前确立的先例允许暴力受害妇女被视为某一特定社会群体的成员。

No longer will those suffering from systemic violence and abandoned by their law enforcement officials be allowed to appeal for entry. Instead, Sessions wrote:

不再允许那些遭受系统性暴力并被执法人员遗弃的人上诉入境，取而代之的是，会议写道：

"The mere fact that a country may have problems effectively policing certain crimes — such as domestic violence or gang violence — or that certain populations are more likely to be victims of crime, cannot itself establish an asylum claim."

"一个国家可能有效管理某些罪行，例如家庭暴力或帮派暴力问题，或者某些人更有可能成为犯罪的受害者，这一事实本身并不能提出庇护申请"。

Long prior to Sessions' edict,

远在议会法令颁布之前，联邦政府已经通过国会行动加强了对家庭暴力受害者的承诺，通过了《暴力侵害妇女法》的修订使受害者感到轻松，使他们不必依赖施暴、不愿意配合的配偶的帮助获得法律地位。但这个先例也被推翻。

the federal government had already strengthened its commitment to victims of domestic abuse through congressional action — amendments to the Violence Against Women Act eased victims through the immigration process so that they would not have to rely on unwilling abusive spouses for help in obtaining legal status. But that precedent too was ignored.

The new policy has of course alarmed women's groups.

当然，新政策震惊了妇女团体。

Many joined the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in denouncing a policy change they saw as targeting women who were the victims of abuse and who had escaped their home countries to protect their children.

许多人加入了国会的西班牙裔核心小组，谴责一项政策变革的打击目标是遭受虐待的妇女，她们逃离祖国是为了保护自己的子女。

It also drew strong opposition from groups concerned about asylum requests from those claiming religious persecution, which is also often perpetrated by private actors unchecked by governmental authorities.

它还引起了一些团体的强烈反对，这些团体对声称遭受宗教迫害的人提出的庇护申请表示担忧。

Eight such groups, including my organization, the National Council of Jewish Women, filed a brief with the Justice Department objecting to what the attorney general was poised to do, to no avail.

包括我的组织、全国犹太妇女理事会在内的八个团体，向司法部提交一份简报，对检察长准备采取的行动提出异议，但毫无效果。

The more restrictive policy is also seen as applicable to victims of gang violence, religious persecution,

限制性较强的政策也适用于帮派暴力、宗教迫害的受害者。

and those who are or presumed to be LGBTQ — some of whom have suffered most egregiously at the hands of private actors unrestrained by governmental authorities.

一些人在政府这种规则下遭受了极其严重的伤害，他们当中有些人是男同性恋者、女同性恋者、双性恋者、变性者和被认定为男同性恋者。

This line of attack on women seeking asylum comes against a backdrop of other acts by the Trump administration, including threats to prosecute those who enter the U.S. outside of official points of entry, including asylum seekers;

针对寻求庇护妇女的这一攻击路线是在特朗普政府采取其他行动的背景下发生的，包括威胁起诉那些进入美国官方入境点以外的人，包括寻求庇护者。

denunciation of the migrant caravan (traveling together from Central American through Mexico for safety's sake) as  "a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system;"  and Sessions' assertion that  "if you are smuggling a child,

谴责移民大篷车(为了安全而从中美洲经由墨西哥旅行)为"故意企图破坏我们的法律并压制我们的制度；"和塞申斯宣称"如果你偷运儿童，那么我们将起诉你，让孩子按照法律的要求与你分离。" 事实上，人们不是 "走私" 儿童，法律不要求分离，正如以前的行政当局所表明的那样。

then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law."  In fact, people are not  "smuggling"  children and the law does not require separation, as previous administrations show.

So now we witness already-desperate mothers traumatized by government agents wrenching their children away to be sent to foster care or detention facilities.

因此，我们现在目睹了已经绝望的母亲因政府人员将子女送往寄养或拘留所而遭受创伤。

Terrible consequences for the children's well-being are predicted by pediatricians, psychologists,

儿科医生、心理学家对儿童福祉造成的可怕后果进行了预测。

and social workers. The U.S. government's official position is apparently that we will deny you asylum from violence and we will take your children to dissuade you from trying to save your families from violence and, yes, a predictable death.

美国政府的官方立场显然是，我们会拒绝你寻求庇护免遭暴力，我们会带着你的孩子阻止你试图拯救你的家庭免遭暴力，当然，还有可预见的死亡。

Ours is an immigrant country. Our efforts to welcome the stranger have surely been wanting at times.

我们是移民国家，我们欢迎陌生人的努力有时还很迟缓。

Our policies toward refugees have even been devastating, but surely in the 21st century we can do better than turn away abused women and their children, vulnerable by virtue of their legal status for persecution in their home country.

我们对难民的政策甚至可能是破坏性的，但在21世纪，我们显然可以做得更好，而不是将受到虐待的妇女及其子女拒之门外，因为他们在本国受到迫害的法律地位使他们处于弱势地位。

Surely we are not so consumed by animus as to reach back years into case archives to overturn policies that gave so many such hope.

Are we? Everyone who has a conscience, everyone who believes that domestic violence is a scourge, must answer no, loudly, in the streets, in front of the legislature, and at the ballot box. There is not a minute to waste.

每个人都有良心, 每个人都相信家庭暴力是一种祸害, 必须在街道上、议会前面、投票箱里大声回答不, 不要浪费一分钟.

Nancy K. Kaufman is the chief executive officer of the National Council of Jewish Women, a grassroots organization inspired by Jewish values that strives to improve the quality of life for women, children,

and families and to safeguard individual rights and freedoms.