Thread: Disappointed immigrants may return to Brazil

Jan. 12, 2008, 10:58PM
Disappointed immigrants may return to Brazil
Falling dollar, a booming economy at home entices some to leave U.S.
By BRIAN R. BALLOU
Boston Globe

FRAMINGHAM, MASS. — Francisco Neto left Brazil for Marlborough, Mass., in 1995, lured by his version of the American dream: the possibility of steady pay and an exchange rate that would triple the money he would send back home to struggling relatives.

But after almost 12 years, he plans to return home to the central Brazilian city of Goinia, joining thousands of Brazilians who no longer see the advantage of living here. The decline in the dollar has cut in half the value of the $700 Neto sends home each month: Five years ago, it was worth 2,450 Brazilian real; today only 1,225 real.

That decline, plus a surging Brazilian economy, is making Brazilians reassess the hardships of living in the United States, apart from their families, in a country where it is often difficult to be an immigrant, even for someone with a residence permit like Neto.

"For a long time, it was great," said Neto, 39, pausing one day last week between deliveries for Kodak. "I would send my family about $700 a month. But last year, it got much worse. I have to pay for my gas, and with having a family here, me and my wife were working all the time, but we were broke."

Between 5,000 and 7,000 Brazilians left Massachusetts and returned to Brazil in 2007, according to estimates by the Brazilian Immigrant Center, a nonprofit agency based in Allston. The center estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 Brazilians returned to their homeland in 2006.

Congress disappoints
The 2000 U.S. census listed 39,000 people of Brazilian descent living in the state; the number grew to 73,000 in 2006, according to the American Community Survey, an annual population survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. But that number does not include Brazilians living here without proper documentation. Some estimates put the total number of Brazilian immigrants as high as 230,000.

Fausto Da Rocha, executive director of the Brazilian Immigrant Center, said the weak dollar is just one of several reasons Brazilians are returning home.

Brazilians are the second-fastest growing group of illegal immigrants in the United States, and many were deeply disappointed last summer when Congress failed to pass a bill that would have given millions of immigrants a chance to apply for legal residency.

In 2008, he predicted, between 7,000 and 10,00 Brazilians may return home.

"It has a lot to do with a lack of hope, too," Da Rocha said. Mario Saade, the Brazilian consul general in Boston, said there are probably more Brazilians leaving now than at any time in the past. But Saade also said he thought the number was less than 7,000, based on the number of Brazilians seeking consulate services, which has remained steady at 300 to 400.

Saade said failure of the immigration reform bill last year was a big blow to many Brazilians here, and he said the Brazilian economy, which experienced a 5.5 percent growth last year, may be enticing many to return.

"The economy of Brazil is in better shape now than in many years, and there are more job opportunities there," he said. "There are sectors that are booming, especially in civil construction, and most (Brazilians) here working are in civil construction."

One-way tickets
Alvaro Lima — director of research at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, who is originally from Brazil — estimated the total number of Brazilians in Massachusetts at not more than 200,000. Though he said people are returning, he doubted that as many as 7,000 were heading back to Brazil.

"It may be happening, but I don't know if it's happening at this scale," he said.

Da Rocha said his estimates are based on interviews with the Brazilian Ministers Network and travel agencies.

Newly arrived Brazilians often go to area churches to get connected with the community, and they often become members. Ministers talk to Brazilians who are planning to leave and know when they have left.

Da Rocha said he has conducted surveys with numerous travel agencies that cater to Brazil and has discovered a spike in one-way tickets.

Some Brazilian business owners say they have noticed a large number of departures and cite a dramatic drop in clientele, in Brazilian neighborhoods in Massachusetts communities, where boutiques, restaurants, and other businesses proudly display the Brazilian flag on storefronts.

"They say they are going back because they don't want to say here illegally, without a driver's license and Social Security," Luz said. "They were hoping the immigration bill would pass, but it didn't."

Joao Freites, owner of Vera Jewelers, said dozens of his regular customers have gone back to Brazil.

"We started to feel this at the beginning of last year," he said. "Then, when the immigration bill didn't go through, people were very disappointed and started buying tickets."


'It's going to hurt us'
Freites said many immigrants who are now contemplating going back to Brazil are waiting to see how the first wave of returnees are faring.

He said several other businesses, such as Brazilian Pizza and Adrianna's Beauty Salon, have gone out of business because so many of their customers have left.

Neto, who has permanent resident status, and his wife, Elaine, 38, decided last November that the family would return to Brazil. She and the couple's 14-year-old daughter have already left, and he plans to leave as soon as he can save up enough money to start a small business in Brazil.

Esta Montano, director of equity and achievement for Framingham public schools, said Brazilians make up about 15 percent of the student body in the district, but that the ratio is dropping.

"It is going to hurt us a lot, continuing to lose a population that has brought growth to the downtown and a lot of vitality to Framingham," she said. "We've seen many families leave in the past year. ... It's sad to see so many of them leave."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5448800.html

The economy of Brazil is in better shape now than in many years, and there are more job opportunities there," he said. "There are sectors that are booming, especially in civil construction, and most (Brazilians) here working are in civil construction."






Well, how nice.....come here, contribute to the downfall of our home, and when it's no longer of use to you, pick your way through the wreckage and go home where things are much better now, in part, because it bounced back without so many poor to deal with because we've been stuck with them.

Good....go, get out, and don't ever bother coming back.

Austa La Bye - Bye .... Dont let the door hit u in the back side.

We Americans will be left to clean up this fricken mess with this pathetic economy

He said several other businesses, such as Brazilian Pizza and Adrianna's Beauty Salon, have gone out of business because so many of their customers have left.

**I would not be to sad if this business had to close in my town. Odd...this shot was taken a year ago. If you drive by today the lower flag is in absolute tatters -symbolism?