Brazilian Immigration Surges Increase as Trump's Inauguration Approaches

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Folha de S.Paulo

Brazilian Immigration Surges Increase as Trump's Inauguration Approaches
01/10/2017 - 13H23
FABIANO MAISONNAVE
SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE BAHAMAS



When Donald Trump promised to strengthen border policing right after he won the election, João (not his real name), who is from the state of Rondônia, realized it was time to speed things up when it came to crossing the border, so he set out to do so before Trump's inauguration on the 20th of January.

"Whenever a Republican takes office, the country becomes withdrawn", João told Folha last week on his flight back to Brazil after being deported from the Bahamas for trying to illegally enter the US from the Caribbeans.

The data indicates that many others agree with João's logic: the number of Brazilians detained and deported at the US border went soaring since November, which was when Trump was elected.

In the last two months of 2016, 940 Brazilians were caught trying to illegally cross the US border, an average of 15.4 arrests per day.

Read more: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/world/2017/01/1848547-number-of-brazilians-arrested-trying-to-cross-us-border-increases.shtml

[HassleCat]

1. Trump is probably OK with that.

Brazilian women are noted for having cosmetic surgery and wearing small bikinis. In fact, that could form the entire basis for Trump foreign policy, immigration policy, environmental policy, financial policy, and much, much more.

[tenorly]

2. True - but the ones emigrating are probably not what a Republican considers "desirable."

Most of them are probably Afro-Brazilians - people who, despite being a majority in Brazil, are like foreigners in their own country.

They're something like half the population of 210 million (or more); but earn about one eighth of the nation's total income.

If you've ever been to Brazil, it's almost like Apartheid South Africa, except the different races mingle considerably in the daytime. Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff tried to even the playing field a little; but in the end it got Dilma overthrown, and open season declared on both of them.

The history of Latin America in a nutshell, really.