Illegal migration from Brazil to the U.S. breaks record in pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to official data, between October 2020 and August 2021, 47,400 Brazilians were detained at the U.S. border, more than the total of the preceding 14 years, when 41,000 tried to cross the border.

Brazilians leave the country mainly from the states of Acre, Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Minas Gerais. The 18-month suspension of the issue of American tourist visas to Brazilians, also due to the world health crisis, aggravated the impact.

“Historically, 90% of undocumented Brazilians reached the U.S. with tourist visas and stayed in the country. This was the method of entry, not least because the probability of being legalized this way is higher than when crossing the border and getting caught by agents,” explains Harvard College of Education professor Gabrielle Oliveira.

Without tourist visas, Brazilians began to explore illegal routes, combining land, air and, in some cases, sea routes. The Mexican route is one of the most well established, according to PUC-MG professor Duval Fernandes, who has been studying the topic for over 20 years. Migrants use the fact that Mexico does not require entry visas for Brazilians to fly in and attempt the crossing on foot or through rivers.

This is the most structured route in which the “coyotes” (human traffickers) operate. According to the Brazilian Federal Police, their action is stronger in Minas Gerais and Rondônia – which, according to Fernandes, are part of the same network.

“The network in Rondônia is the same as in Governador Valadares (MG), due to the ties of the mining community in the state, since many people migrated there in agricultural projects in the past. While conducting the research, it is common to hear reports of people with relatives who have already moved to the U.S., and are from Minas,” he said.

The price of the “packages” in the Minas Gerais coyotes network is known. In June, they charged R$40,000 (US$7,450) per person in the model “without insurance,” and R$80,000 “with insurance” – the same price for families (2 adults and 1 child). “With insurance, you make a down payment and if you don’t get into the U.S., you pay nothing more. Without insurance you are left with the debt, irrespective of the outcome,” Fernandes says.

The route changes according to increased surveillance in certain areas and, since last year, to the rules imposed by the pandemic. The Federal Police says that certain routes are used more frequently. One of the exit points is Acre, crossing through South and Central American countries, until reaching Mexico. But there are also routes that leave Brazil by air to the Caribbean, from where migrants head to the U.S. by boat.

With increased surveillance, new ways to cross into the U.S. have emerged. “Increased surveillance began in the 1990s. It became more difficult to cross in San Diego and El Paso, for instance, and that has forced people to go deeper into the desert,” explains Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) Director Adam Isacson.

Attorney Walter Santos, who has been practicing in the U.S. for 16 years, gathers testimonials from former clients who entered the country using coyotes.

“There are no happy reports. I had a client who was legalized, but wanted to regularize his wife. When he crossed the border, his brother was bitten by a snake in the desert and died. They had to leave the body there, because there was no way to carry it. There are always reports of abuse by coyotes, including sexual abuse against women, men and children. Not to mention that migrants reach the U.S. in debt and have to work to pay back the coyotes, while families are the target of extortion in their own country,” he says.

In addition, when Biden became president, migrants were given hope of remaining in the U.S., Gabrielle explains. “Biden’s discourse was to ease process with migrants and to handle things more humanely. And as the Trump administration was very much betting on restricting that, anything that came after him would be more lenient.” This easing has not materialized.

When migrants cross the border and present themselves to the authorities, they are interviewed to determine if there are enough elements to justify asylum. As the concession is the migrant’s way of regularizing their situation, coyote networks have begun to offer tips on how to deceive U.S. authorities as “part of the service.”

“Many people cross the border with a ready made up story, and turn themselves in to the authorities in an attempt to secure asylum. I have seen people who have come to the office claiming to suffer gang persecution, and presented as proof photos of what would be their dead, beheaded brother. A week later, someone else came to me with the same story and the same photo,” Santos said.

Historically, it is more difficult for Brazilians to be granted asylum. “The U.S. doesn’t classify Brazil as a risk country. Generally, when a Brazilian gets the status it is because they suffer domestic violence or other forms of persecution,” says Gabrielle Oliveira.