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Brazilian Immigration 

Used Katheryn Gallant (http://www.brazil-brasil.com/cvrmar96.htm) and Davis.

Brazil used to be a country that received immigrants from around the world. Before the 1960s, Brazil was acountry that people immigrated to. In recent years, however, at least a million Brazilians have immigrated tothe US, Europe and Japan. This trend may be increased by the recent Brazilian economic problems.

After the coup d'état of 1964, thousands of opponents of the military regime went into exile. Most of theseexiles returned to Brazil after the amnesty of 1979, but the number of economic emigrants grew in the1980s. This was especially true after the 1979 oil crisis and the military government's fiscal mismanagement.In 1987 about 300,000 Brazilians lived outside the country. Since then emigration has increased at a rate of 

20% per year.

In 1969 the Banco do Brasil opened a New York branch. In the same year the Brazilian-American chamber of Commerce was founded to promote trade and investment between the two countries. (Davis p. 10)

Since April 1991, there have been no official statistics about Brazilian emigrants. We only know that thenumber of passports issued by the Federal Police in 1993 came to a total of 436,177. Of this number, we donot know how many decided to emigrate. We do know that the overwhelming majority of Brazilians in the

United States (87 percent) were born in Brazil.The Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) found a statistical "absence" of 1,379,928 Brazilians between the ages of 20 to 44 from the 1991 census (which IBGE researchers discovered while examining thecensus demographics). The most logical explanation is Brazilian emigration.

Perhaps half of the emigrant Brazilians live in the United States. The largest Brazilian settlements are on theEast Coast. New York is estimated to have between 80,000 to 150,000 Brazilian emigrants. Another 150,000are estimated to live in Boston, 65,000 in Florida (mostly in the Miami area), 20,000 in California, 10,000 inHouston, Texas ,and another 10,000 in Washington, DC.

More than half the Brazilians who immigrate to the US, according to the Center for Immigration Studies in New York, already have friends or relatives in the US with whom they stay after they arrive in the country.

In 25% of the cases, the immigrants do not plan on returning to Brazil.Maxine Margolis, an American anthropologist, spent three years studying the Brazilian community in NewYork interviewing more than 250 Brazilian immigrants or Brazucas as they are called. She published her work as the book Little Brazil (1994). She found that most of the Brazilians she interviewed were ashamedto be immigrants with almost 90% saying they are not immigrants, but rather are just passing through.Margolis discovered that most of the Brazilians in the US are from middle-class families and that the

"Immigrants defend themselves from frustration by thinking that they're doing these services only for a year or two, that it's a temporary situation."

"Despite what many people think, most Brazilian immigrants arrive with money and contacts to stay in theUS some time before getting a job," Gino Agostinelli, of the Center for Immigration Studies, has told the

São Paulo newspaper Folha de São Paulo. "They aren't desperate fugitives, but people with money who arelooking for another way of life."

About 65% of Brazilian immigrants to the US find a job within three weeks of their arrival. At first, mostimmigrants seek jobs in the same field in which they worked in Brazil principally because this is one of theeasiest ways of getting a green card, the permanent resident visa for aliens living in the US. However, almost70% of Brazilians living in the US are illegal immigrants. (With so many illegal immigrants in the UnitedStates, it has to be assumed that the country secretely, or unofficially, wants the immigrants, legal or illegal.I asked an illegal Brazilian immigrant if Brazilians in America want information on the immigration service

and she said "Not really, because they don't really have to worry about the immigration service. There isalways a way a round the immigration rules. Even if they catch you and throw you out, you can just come back another way - you can change your name back in Brazil and then return or come back via Mexico, or 

some other way.")The high percentage of illegal immigrants means the vast majority of Brazilian immigrants end up in menial jobs with salaries between $1000 and $2000 a month. Only about 4% of Brazilian immigrants who come to New York to stay earn more than $3000 a month. Generally, these are legal immigrants who work inoccupations related to the jobs they had in Brazil.

While 59% of the Brazilian female immigrants in New York have gone to college, 56% of them work asmaids, housekeepers, cooks or nannies. Among the men, while only 4% have no more than an elementaryschool education, almost all of them are working as laborers, construction workers or bus boys in

restaurants.

The two occupations in which Brazilian immigrants have an almost total monopoly in the New York metropolitan area are shoe shining among the men and go-go dancing among the women, are alsoconsidered the most "shameful."

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Margolis underscored the fact that the Brazucas are an "invisible community." Since most Brazilianimmigrants work from 10 to 15 hours a day at low-paying menial jobs, they do not have the time or energyto make a bigger mark on their adopted country. And given the small amount of Brazilian immigrantscompared to Hispanic immigrants, it is easy for the Americans to see the Brazilians as just another Hispanicgroup.

Bra-zil used to be a coun-try that re-ceived im-mi-grants from a-round the world. Be-fore the 1960s, Bra-zil

was a coun-try that peo-ple im-mi-grat-ed to. In re-cent years, how-ev-er, at least a mil-lion Bra-zil-ians haveim-mi-grat-ed to the US, Eu-rope and Ja-pan. This trend may be in-creased by the re-cent Bra-zil-ian e-co-nom-ic prob-lems.Af-ter the cou-p d'état of 1964, thou-sands of op-po-nents of the mil-i-tar-y re-gime went in-to ex-ile. Mostof these ex-iles re-turned to Bra-zil af-ter the am-nes-ty of 1979, but the num-ber of e-co-nom-ic em-i-grants grew in the 1980s. This was es-pe-cial-ly true af-ter the 1979 oil cri-sis and the mil-i-tar-ygovernment's fis-cal mis-man-age-ment. In 1987 a-bout 300,000 Bra-zil-ians lived out-side the coun-try.Since then em-i-gra-tion has in-creased at a rate of 20% per year.In 1969 the Banco do Bra-sil o-pened a New York branch. In the same year the Bra-zil-ian-A-mer-i-cancham-ber of Com-merce was found-ed to pro-mote trade and in-vest-ment be-tween the two coun-tries. (Da-vis p. 10)

Since A-pril 1991, there have been no of-fi-cial sta-tis-tics a-bout Bra-zil-ian em-i-grants. We on-ly knowthat the num-ber of pass-ports is-sued by the Fed-er-al Po-lice in 1993 came to a to-tal of 436,177. Of thisnum-ber, we do not know how man-y de-cid-ed to em-i-grate. We do know that the o-ver-whelm-ing ma- jor-i-ty of Bra-zil-ians in the U-nit-ed States (87 per-cent) were born in Bra-zil.The Bra-zil-ian Ge-og-ra-phy and Sta-tis-tics In-sti-tute (IBGE) found a sta-tis-ti-cal "ab-sence" of 1,379,928 Bra-zil-ians be-tween the ag-es of 20 to 44 from the 1991 cen-sus (which IBGE re-search-ers dis-cov-ered while ex-am-in-ing the cen-sus de-mo-graph-ics). The most log-i-cal ex-pla-na-tion is Bra-zil-ianem-i-gra-tion.Per-haps half of the em-i-grant Bra-zil-ians live in the U-nit-ed States. The larg-est Bra-zil-ian set-tle-mentsare on the East Coast. New York is es-ti-mat-ed to have be-tween 80,000 to 150,000 Bra-zil-ian em-i-grants.An-oth-er 150,000 are es-ti-mat-ed to live in Bos-ton, 65,000 in Flor-i-da (most-ly in the Mi-am-i ar-e-a),

20,000 in Cal-i-for-ni-a, 10,000 in Hou-ston, Tex-as ,and an-oth-er 10,000 in Wash-ing-ton, DC.More than half the Bra-zil-ians who im-mi-grate to the US, ac-cord-ing to the Cen-ter for Im-mi-gra-tionStud-ies in New York, al-read-y have friends or rel-a-tives in the US with whom they stay af-ter they ar-rivein the coun-try. In 25% of the cas-es, the im-mi-grants do not plan on re-turn-ing to Bra-zil.Max-ine Margolis, an A-mer-i-can an-thro-pol-o-gist, spent three years stud-y-ing the Bra-zil-ian com-mu-ni-ty in New York in-ter-view-ing more than 250 Bra-zil-ian im-mi-grants or Brazucas as they are called.She pub-lished her work as the book Lit-tle Bra-zil (1994). She found that most of the Bra-zil-ians she in-ter-viewed were a-shamed to be im-mi-grants with al-most 90% say-ing they are not im-mi-grants, but ra-ther are just pass-ing through. Margolis dis-cov-ered that most of the Bra-zil-ians in the US are from mid-dle-class fam-i-lies and that the "Im-mi-grants de-fend them-selves from frus-tra-tion by think-ing thatthey're do-ing these ser-vic-es on-ly for a year or two, that it's a tem-po-rar-y sit-u-a-tion."

"De-spite what man-y peo-ple think, most Bra-zil-ian im-mi-grants ar-rive with mon-ey and con-tacts to stayin the US some time be-fore get-ting a job," Gi-no Agostinelli, of the Cen-ter for Im-mi-gra-tion Stud-ies,has told the São Paulo news-pa-per Folha de São Paulo. "They aren't des-per-ate fu-gi-tives, but peo-ple withmon-ey who are look-ing for an-oth-er way of life."A-bout 65% of Bra-zil-ian im-mi-grants to the US find a job with-in three weeks of their ar-ri-val. At first,most im-mi-grants seek jobs in the same field in which they worked in Bra-zil prin-ci-pal-ly be-cause this isone of the eas-i-est ways of get-ting a green card, the per-ma-nent res-i-dent vi-sa for al-iens liv-ing in theUS. How-ev-er, al-most 70% of Bra-zil-ians liv-ing in the US are il-le-gal im-mi-grants. (With so man-y il-le-gal im-mi-grants in the U-nit-ed States, it has to be as-sumed that the coun-try se-crete-ly, or un-of-fi-cial-ly, wants the im-mi-grants, le-gal or il-le-gal. I asked an il-le-gal Bra-zil-ian im-mi-grant if Bra-zil-ians inA-mer-i-ca want in-for-ma-tion on the im-mi-gra-tion ser-vice and she said "Not re-al-ly, be-cause they don'tre-al-ly have to wor-ry a-bout the im-mi-gra-tion ser-vice. There is al-ways a way a round the im-mi-gra-tion rules. E-ven if they catch you and throw you out, you can just come back an-oth-er way - you canchange your name back in Bra-zil and then re-turn or come back vi-a Mex-i-co, or some oth-er way.")The high per-cent-age of il-le-gal im-mi-grants means the vast ma-jor-i-ty of Bra-zil-ian im-mi-grants end upin me-ni-al jobs with sal-a-ries be-tween $1000 and $2000 a month. On-ly a-bout 4% of Bra-zil-ian im-mi-grants who come to New York to stay earn more than $3000 a month. Gen-er-al-ly, these are le-gal im-mi-grants who work in oc-cu-pa-tions re-lat-ed to the jobs they had in Bra-zil.