For Cape's Brazilians, work and worries
Some tie visa woes to fatal chase
By Brian R. Ballou
Globe Staff / July 30, 2008
HYANNIS - The Brazilian footprint is everywhere, from the jewelry stores nestled between mini-golf courses and ice cream parlors to the numerous painting and landscaping trucks zipping through neighborhoods and parked along tree-lined roads in upscale neighborhoods. On some sunny patios in front of restaurants on Main Street, where the green and yellow Brazilian flag is displayed, Portuguese is spoken more often than English.

The majority of Cape Cod's 14,000 Brazilians live in this village in Barnstable, or in neighboring Falmouth, where they have flocked to find work as cooks, business owners, landscapers, or - like 25-year-old Andre L. Martins, who was shot and killed by police after a car chase early Sunday - house painters.

Most have come here looking for a better life. Some have found it. But many others toil at multiple jobs, on a cycle of work that stops only for sleep and has few social outlets other than church.

"Most Brazilians here work hard in unskilled jobs like construction or roofing or painting," said Cleiber Silver, 38, who came to this country from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2000 on a work visa and now owns his own business. "The problem is that they are working hard but not investing. They are sending the money back home to their families. I'm in a very comfortable position and I know there are others who are doing well, but for most Brazilians, they are selling their souls to make a living."

Marcos Flavio, 33, holds two jobs: cook at the popular Brazilian Grill on Main Street and landscaper. Flavio said his employment leaves him very little downtime, and he mostly goes from work to bed. He said that many of his friends hold two jobs as well and that, like him, they were drawn to the United States by the promise of jobs that pay well.

Yesterday afternoon, Flavio raked a strip of newly-tilled soil next to the restaurant, creating an even bed in which to plant. With his palms covered by a layer of dirt, and sweat beading on his forehead, he talked about the subject that has dominated many conversations between Brazilians over the past two days, the fatal shooting of Martins by a police officer Sunday morning.

"We come here, we work hard, but the police, they don't seem to respect us," said Flavio, who has lived in Hyannis for four years. "They didn't have to shoot him. They could have just grabbed him."

Flavio said he is in this country legally, but for many Brazilians living here without documentation, the possibility of deportation brings heavy stress.

As officials, including Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael D. O'Keefe, continued yesterday to investigate the traffic stop that ended in Martins's death, many Brazilians here said the issue being discussed at dinner tables, bars, and at work is the question of allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.

Fausto da Rocha, executive director of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston, said "that's the biggest issue in the whole immigrant population, not just on the Cape, but throughout the state.

"Many Brazilians have integrated into the American society on Cape Cod. They really enjoy the area. When you are here for at least four or five years, you have better integration into the community. But the driver's license issue, that is a roadblock for many."

Martins, a father of two whose work visa apparently had expired, was killed by a single gunshot to the heart and lungs after fleeing a Yarmouth police officer at speeds that some witnesses said hit 80 or 90 miles an hour.

Connie Souza, a client advocate with Catholic Charities in Hyannis, said people in the Brazilian community believe Martins tried to elude police because he was scared of deportation. "I think this community is just waiting to find out more about what happened," she said, sitting in her office. "I can't see the officer shooting him because he was an immigrant. I just think a mistake was made."

Yesterday, Mario Saade, the Brazilian consul general in Boston, took to the airwaves, telling listeners on WSRO (650-AM), a Brazilian radio station in Framingham, that they need to stay calm and obey basic driving laws.

"He was telling the community to be calm, no need to be frightened," said Fernando Igreja, deputy consul general. "They have to stop when the police tell them to."

Martins's father, Luiz Carlos de Castro Martins, also spoke out on the radio station, decrying the fatal shooting of his son. In a telephone interview from Brazil, de Castro Martins said he plans to fly to Boston this week to bring his son's body to Brazil for burial.

"It's very difficult for me right now," he said.

Michael Levenson of the Globe staff contributed to this report.




http://www.boston.com/news/local/articl ... d_worries/