I'm here to honor the sacredness of life that I see at the border in south Texas.
今天我在这是为了向德克萨斯州南部边境所看到的神圣生命致敬。
In 2014, I visited a detention facility where hundreds of little children, immigrant children,
在2014年，我参观了一间拘留所，在那里，成百上千的儿童，移民儿童，
were detained for several weeks in conditions that were very heartbreaking.
已被关押了好几周，那场面实在很令人心碎。
They were dirty and muddy and crying. Their faces were full of tears.
他们身上很脏，还带着泥，他们在哭泣。小小的脸上满是泪水。
I had the opportunity to go in and be with them. And they were all around me.
我得到了进去陪伴他们的机会，然后孩子们都围着我。
They were little ones, some of them not older than five years old.
他们都还很小，一些都还不到五岁。
And they were saying to me, "Sácame de aquí." "Get me out of here."
他们对着我说：“Sácame de aquí.” “带我离开这儿吧。”
"Por favor, ayúdame." "Please, help me."
“Porfavor, ayúdame.” “求求你了，帮帮我。”
It was so difficult to be there with them.
跟他们呆在一起实在太令人难受了。
I started to cry with them, and I told them, "Let us pray." "Vamos a rezar."
我开始跟着他们一起哭，我跟他们说：“让我们一起祈祷吧。” “Vamos a rezar.”
And they repeated after me, "Diosito, ayúdanos." "God, please, help us."
他们就跟着我重复：“Diosito, ayúdanos.” “主啊，请帮帮我们吧。”
As we prayed, I could see the Border Patrol officers looking through a glass window.
在我们祈祷的时候，我能看见边境巡逻员们透过玻璃窗向里望。
They were at the verge of tears. As they heard the children praying and witness.
他们听着孩子们的祈祷，并看着这一切几乎落泪。
I had a little boy get close to me, closer, because they were all over, we could barely fit in that little cell.
有一个小男孩慢慢地向我靠近。因为到处都是孩子，我们很勉强地挤在那个小房间里。
And this little boy tells me, "Ayúdame. Quiero irme con mi mamá."
这个小男孩对我说：“Ayúdame. Quiero irme con mi mamá.”
"Please, help me. I want to be with my mother. She is here, I was separated from her."
“请帮帮我吧。我想跟我妈妈在一起。她也在这里，我们被分开了。”
I said to him, "Mijo, if your mom is here, I'm certain you will be reunited."
我告诉他：“亲爱的，如果你的妈妈在这里，那你们一定会重聚的。”
When I walked out of the cell, an officer got close to me and said to me,
当我走出那个小房间，一个工作人员走向了我，并对我说：
"Sister, thank you. You have helped us realize that they are human beings."
“修女，谢谢你。你让我们意识到他们也是人。”
You know, sometimes, no matter what job we have, we must never forget to recognize the humanity in others.
有时候，无论我们做着什么工作，我们都得记得去看见存在于他人身上的人性。
Otherwise, we will lose our own humanity.
否则，我们就会失去自己的人性。
Let me tell you a bit about what I see and what I do in the southern border of the United States where I live and where I work.
让我来与你们分享一些在美国南部边境我看到过的和我做过的事吧，那是我工作和生活的地方。
Hundreds of families enter the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river.
成百上千的家庭穿过奥格兰德河进入美国。
And once they are in the United States,
一旦他们进入美国，
many of them are given permission to continue their process of immigration at another point in the United States.
他们中的许多人都获得批准，并在某些时候继续他们的移民程序。
What has amazed me for all these years has been the amazing humanitarian response of the community there in south Texas.
这些年来，我一直震惊于德州南部社区的那种令人惊叹的人道主义响应。
Thousands of volunteers have given of their time so generously. For me, they're all amazing people.
成千上百的志愿者慷慨地奉献出了他们自己的时间。在我看来，他们都是很棒的人。
And the whole community, city government, from local business leaders to civic organizations,
还有整个社区、市政府、从当地的商业领袖到社会组织，
all faith communities, in the Border Patrol and ICE.
所有的信仰社区以及移民及海关执法局（ICE）。
We have all come together in an effort to help 150,000 or more immigrants since that first day that we got started.
从第一天起，我们一直以来携手并肩共同致力于帮助这15万乃至更多的移民。
Back in those first days when we were first involved in helping the immigrants,
回想最初的那些日子--我们刚开始介入帮助移民那会儿，
we were at our respite center, and an officer from the city walks in and tells me, "Sister, what are you doing here?"
有一天，我们在暂托中心里，一位城市官员走了进来，并问我：“修女，你们在这儿做什么？”
I turned and looked to see what was happening at the respite center.
我转过身，想看看暂托中心里发生了什么。
I was amazed at what I was seeing. There were hundreds of volunteers helping so many families there that needed help.
眼前的景象令我震惊。几百个志愿者正在为那些急需援助的家庭提供帮助。
Giving them ways to get cleaned up and to get clean clothing, food, hygiene items.
设法让他们能够清洁身体，为他们提供干净的衣服、食物和卫生用品。
Just love and compassion was seen everywhere.
爱与怜悯洋溢在每个角落。
So I turned back and I responded to him and I said, "Restoring human dignity. That's what we're doing."
于是我又转回身回答这位长官，我说：“恢复人的尊严。这就是我们正在做的事。”
I don't think he expected that answer from me, because he took a step back and then approached me again and said,
我猜他没想到我会这样回答他，因为他向后退了一步然后又再次靠近我说道：
"Sister, if I had a magic wand, what would that magic wand do for you?"
“修女，假如我有魔杖，你想让这根魔杖做些什么呢？”
"Showers?" Sure enough, that evening we had a mobile unit of eight showers.
“热水澡吧？”果真，当天晚上我们就有了八个可移动的洗澡间。
Amazing. And after that, we had 100 percent support of the city government.
太神奇了。而从那以后我们得到了市政府100%的全力支持。
We were there, wanting to make sure that we were helping and be successful with our response to so many families that we were seeing every single day.
我们在那里，希望确保我们切切实实帮助着且成功地回应着我们每一天所面对的众多家庭。
I think that we must help others see what we see.
我认为我们必须帮助其他人看见我们所看见的这一切。
I think it's important that we can share that with others.
至关重要的一点是，我们能够与他人与分享这一切。
You probably heard this idea before -- that we must always see God's children as equal.
你也许之前就听过这样的话--我们必须对神的孩子一视同仁。

But in order to do that, I think it's important to be able to see them as people.
但要想做到这一点，我认为重要的是，我们首先得能够将他们看作是人。
To be able to have a personal encounter, when we can feel what they feel, when we can understand what they're hurting.
能去亲身体验，感同身受，当我们能感受他们的感受，当我们能理解他们的苦痛。
To really meet up with them. It is then that we are present to them and we can make their humanity a part of our own humanity.
能在现实中与他们见面。出现在他们面前，我们能将他们的人性变为我们自己人性的一部分。
And we'd recognize that we are all part of the same human family.
于是我们能够意识到我们都属于同一个人类大家庭。
During those days, I had a lady approach me and tell me, "Sister, I am 100 percent against what you do, helping these illegal aliens."
在那些日子里，有一位女士找到我，并告诉我：“修女，我完全反对你帮助这些非法移民。”
And I said to her, "Let me tell you what I do and why."
我对她说，“让我来告诉你我做了什么和其中的缘由。”
So I shared with her and introduced her to the families and the children, shared the stories that they are living.
因此，我向她介绍了这些家庭和孩子们，也分享了他们的故事。
When I finished talking with her, she turns and looks at me and says, "Sister, I am 100 percent in favor of what you do."
当我和她讲完时，她转头看向我说：“修女，我现在完全支持你现在做的事。”
That evening, her husband calls me, he tells me, "Sister, I don't know what you did to my wife.
那天晚上，她的丈夫给我打来了电话，他告诉我，“修女，我不知道你对我妻子做了些什么。
But this evening she came home and she said, 'If Sister Norma ever calls you, you make sure you do what she tells you.'
但今天晚上，她回到家后对我说，‘如果诺玛修女打电话给你，你一定得照她说的去做。’
So I'm just reporting to let you know I'm here to help in any way."
所以我打电话来就是想告诉你，只要有需要，我随时都可以帮忙。”
Well, you know... I'm thinking that -- was it a personal encounter that she had?
好吧，你们知道...我在想--这对她来说算不算是一次亲身体验呢？
I think it's a nice idea, a nice message, but I don't think it's the whole story.
我认为这是个好主意，是个好消息，但我不认为这就是全部了。
In that encounter, we must put aside our prejudice that we have toward others,
在见面时，我们必须抛开对他人的偏见，
that separate us and don't allow us to see them, our walls that we put up in our own heart that keep us separated from others.
即那些将我们与他们分隔，使我们看不见他们的偏见，那堵我们在自己心中筑起的使我们与他人分隔的高墙。
When we are able to do that, we're able to reach out to them.
当我们能够做到这一点，我们就能够与他们相连。
You know, I think what doesn't make it possible is fear -- that we're afraid.
我认为恐惧让我们做不到这件事--我们感到畏惧。
And because we're afraid
而正因为我们畏惧
more than likely it's because we've seen in the media all this negative rhetoric that we hear about immigrants,
更可能是因为我们在媒体上所看到的东西印证了那些我们曾听说的关于移民的负面言论，
they are demonized, like they're not human, that we can discard them and we can get rid of them,
他们被妖魔化了，就好像他们不是人类一样，就好像我们可以弃他们不顾，可以摆脱他们，
and not even feel bad that we're doing that.
甚至在这样做时，丝毫不感到难过。
Immigrant families are not criminals. Immigrant families are like our families, like our neighbors.
移民家庭不是罪犯。移民家庭就跟我们所有家庭一样，就如同我们的邻居。
They're good people who are entering our country and coming to the United States
他们是好人，他们进入我们的国家，来到美国，
only simply because they're fleeing away from violence and they want to be safe.
仅仅因为他们想要远离暴力，他们渴望拥有一个安全的生活。
Unfortunately, what we see at the border is terrible.
不幸的是，我们在边境看到的一切糟糕透了。
People are hurting and suffering. Thousands of them are.
他们在忍受着伤害和痛苦，成千上万个人如此。
And mostly I feel it's because of those walls that we put up, that we have in our hearts, that makes us not care.
我大部分时候都觉得正是因为那些我们筑起的墙，我们内心深处的高墙，让我们变得毫不在意。
So we have policies that are returning people back to Mexico, so they can wait. And they wait there for months.
所以我们才会有政策要将移民们送回到墨西哥，所以他们就在这儿等着。一等就是好几个月。
In conditions that are horrible, where people are suffering and hurting.
在这样糟糕的处境下等待着，在伤害和苦痛中等待着。
Abuses. And not even the means to be OK.
这是虐待，离合适的方式相差甚远。
I think that it is true that we must keep our country safe,
我非常认同，我们必须保证我们国家的安全，
that we must make sure who enters our country, that criminals should be put away.
我们必须要检查入境者的身份，确保罪犯被关押起来。
But it is also true that we must not lose our humanity in doing this.
但我同样认同，我们不可以在这样做时失去人性。
That we must have policies and procedures that do not contribute to the human suffering that people are already suffering.
我们的政策和司法程序切不可给那些已经遭受了许多苦难的人再添痛苦。
And that we can find solutions that are respectful to all human life.
然而我们能够找到一种尊重生命个体的解决办法。
We can do this, if we can allow the best in us to come out.
我们能够做到的，只要我们允许自己展现出我们最好的那一面。
Because what I see at the border are families,
因为我在边境看到的是一个个家庭，
men, who will take a child and will try to comfort that child that is crying because that child is crying for their own dad.
一个个带着孩子们的男人，尝试安抚哭泣的孩子，而孩子们则在为自己的父亲哭泣。
And these men are crying with that child. I see men and women who drop to their knees, praying. As they pray in thanksgiving.
这些男人们于是陪着孩子一起流泪。我看见男人和女人们，双膝跪地，向上帝祈祷。如同他们在感恩节时做的祷告。
I see children who have been separated from their parents for months.
我看到那些与父母分开数月的孩子。
And when they're reunited, they're afraid to separate themselves from them, because they're afraid they will lose their mom again.
当跟他们和家人团聚时，他们变得异常害怕离开父母身边，因为他们担心他们会再一次失去自己的母亲。
Once a child looked up to me after she was reunited and she said to me, "Hoy no voy a llorar." "Today I'm not going to cry."
有一次，一个小女孩在跟家人团聚后抬头看向我，她对我说：“Hoy no voy a llorar.” “今天我不会哭了。”
And I said, "Por qué, mi hija?"
我说，“为什么呢，我的孩子？”
She said, "Because I have been crying for the past whole month, because I didn't know where my mother was.
她说：“因为过去的一个月里我一直都在哭，因为我不知道我的妈妈在哪里。
But tonight, I'm going to be with her."
但今晚，我会跟她待在一起。”
The day I visited the detention facility back in 2014,
说回到2014年，我前去探访拘留所的那天，
there was a little boy who approached me and asked me for me to help him find his mom.
曾有一个小男孩来找我，并问我能不能帮他找到他的妈妈。
Well, that evening, when I was at the humanitarian respite center, the little boy walked in with his mother.
而在那一天晚上，在人道主义暂托中心，这个小男孩和他的妈妈一起走了进来。
And as soon as he spotted me, he runs toward me, I go down to greet him, and he just throws himself to hug me.
他一下子认出了我，并向我跑来，我蹲下身来问候他，他径直冲上来给了我个大大的拥抱。
It was so beautiful, that was truly a beautiful human encounter.
这太美好了，真是一次美好的相遇。
I think it's humanity at its best. It is what we all are called to do. Think about it.
我想这就是人性最好的一面。这就是我们都该做的事情。想想吧。
We just need to allow ourselves to get close enough to see, and we will care. Thank you.
我们只需让自己愿意靠近了去看，我们便会开始关心。谢谢。