His mother never returns, and that decides Enrique's fate. As a teenager—indeed, still a child—he will set out for the United States on his own to search for her. Virtually unnoticed, he will become one of an estimated 48,000 children who enter the United States from Central America and Mexico each year, illegally and without either of their parents. Roughly two thirds of them will make it past the U.S. Immigration and 10)Naturalization Service.
他的母亲再也没回来，这决定了恩里克的命运。一个十几岁的少年——其实还是个孩子，他将独自去美国找妈妈。不知不觉中，他成了每年从中美洲和墨西哥去美国的大约四万八千名孩子中的一员。这些孩子都是非法偷渡者，而且没有双亲同行。大约三分之二的孩子最后都会落到美国移民归化局的手中。
Many go north seeking work. Others flee abusive families. Most of the Central Americans go to reunite with a parent, say counselors at a 11)detention center in Texas where the INS houses the largest number of the 12)unaccompanied children it catches. Of those, the counselors say, 75 percent are looking for their mothers. Some children say they need to find out whether their mothers still love them. A 13)priest at a Texas shelter says they often bring pictures of themselves in their mothers' arms.
许多孩子北上是去找工作的，其他的则是为了逃避家人的虐待。这些无人陪伴的孩子被抓获后绝大多数被收容在移民归化局位于德州的一个拘留所里，那里的管教员说，大多数中美洲孩子都是为了与父亲或母亲团聚而去美国的，其中75%是为了去找妈妈。有些孩子说，他们要去弄清楚妈妈是否还爱他们。德州一个庇护所的牧师说，那些孩子通常都带着妈妈抱着他们拍的照片。
The journey is hard for the Mexicans but harder still for Enrique and the others from Central America. They must make an illegal and dangerous trek up the length of Mexico. Counselors and immigration lawyers say only half of them get help from 14)smugglers. The rest travel alone. They are cold, hungry, and helpless. They are hunted like animals by corrupt police, 15)bandits, and gang members deported from the United States. A University of Houston study found that most are robbed, beaten, or raped, usually several times. Some are killed.
对墨西哥人来说，这趟旅程是艰难的，但对恩里克和其他中美洲的偷渡者来说就更艰难了。他们必须冒险非法穿越墨西哥。管教员和移民律师都说，只有一半的人选择让“蛇头”帮忙，剩下的人都只能凭自身的本事北上。他们又冷又饿，得不到任何帮助，还被腐败警察、土匪和被美国驱逐出境的黑帮成员像狩猎般追捕。休斯敦大学的一个调查发现，大多数偷渡者通常数度遭抢劫、毒打或强暴。有的还被杀害。
They set out with little or no money. Thousands, shelter workers say, make their way through Mexico clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains. Since the 1990s, Mexico and the United States have tried to 16)thwart them. To evade Mexican police and immigration authorities, the children jump onto and off of the moving train cars. Sometimes they fall, and the wheels tear them apart.
他们动身上路时，口袋里只有几个钱，甚至身无分文。庇护所的工作人员说，成千上万偷渡者都是靠攀附在货运火车车身或车顶而穿越墨西哥的。从20世纪90年代起，墨西哥和美国就想方设法阻拦他们。为了躲避墨西哥警察和移民局官员，孩子们在火车行进时上蹿下跳，有时会摔到车底，被车轮碾得粉身碎骨。
译文参考自海南出版社版本
