Thread: Influx brings Brazilian `bounce' to NYC suburb

Influx brings Brazilian `bounce' to NYC suburb
By JIM FITZGERALD | Associated Press Writer
August 9, 2008

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. - It wouldn't take much to make police Commissioner David Chong a happy man. One Portuguese-speaking cop might do it.

It's just one sign of the impact Brazilians are having on this old suburban city just north of New York City, where 8 to 10 percent of the 72,000 people may be Brazilian.

"We really want to have someone here who can speak that language, who can really relate to that community," the commissioner says. "I would like a handful, but one would be a great start."

So Chong has launched a recruiting campaign, generating news stories in Portuguese-language newspapers and TV stations that reach the area's Brazilians.

It's difficult to know how many Brazilians live in the United States, since many are in the country illegally. Other small cities with large Brazilian populations include Danbury, Conn., and Framingham, Mass.

The influx in Mount Vernon is evident in the cluster of Brazilian-oriented shops and restaurants.

At a store called the Bradeli, shopkeeper Helio Martin, 46, sells Brazilian foods, perfumes and CDs. He also arranges airline tickets for trips to the old country and money transfers to help families back home. Born in the city of Belo Horizonte, Martin has been in the U.S. for 26 years and says, "I love Mount Vernon."

"Brazilians are very warm people. It is easy for us to get used to other backgrounds, other cultures," he says.

Some Portuguese is heard on the street, but there's no sense of isolation. City cops lunch at the Brazilian Grille, where coarse salt is the only condiment on the barbecued beef _ no barbecue sauce, please.

Most of the customers at Onda's Brazil, a hair salon, are Brazilian, but the proprietor is Marisela Concepcion, a Puerto Rican of Dominican descent.

"I had to learn the Brazilian styles," Concepcion says. "The women see the telenovelas and the Brazilian magazines, and they want those styles. They like to look good, and they're not afraid to spend money."

She feels Brazilian immigrants have improved the city: "With the shops and the restaurants, it gives a little bounce."

At the modest Brazil 2000 restaurant, owner and chief cook Francisca Silva Villela said in Portuguese that she's seen the number of Brazilians in Mount Vernon grow greatly in the 14 years since she left Pocos de Caldas. She said she's treated well by her Brazilian and non-Brazilian customers, who come in for feijoada, the beef-pork-and-beans national dish, for her sandwiches named for Brazilian states and for the chocolate fudge cake known as bolo brigadeiro.

In the spare office of the Brazilian Civic Center, executive director Ricardo Braxtor offers lessons in speaking English and energetically urges Brazilian assimilation.

The 46-year-old Sao Paulo native is pushing his community to join blood drives, school groups and soccer leagues, and the whole city is invited to a Brazil celebration next month.

"We want to participate and give something before we ask for anything," he says. "We want to change people's ideas of what immigrants are like."

Braxtor praises the Police Department but says it is at a disadvantage among Brazilians because in Brazil, often police work is not considered honorable. In addition, he said, many of the Brazilians in Mount Vernon are in the country illegally and fear that any encounter with an officer could lead to deportation.

Chong is quick to say that's not true.

"If you're a victim of a crime, your immigration status is not going to come into play," the commissioner said. "We are trying to overcome this lack of trust because it hurts the people."

He gave examples of a domestic abuse case in which the man was a citizen, but his wife wasn't, so he basically held her hostage, and situations in which people won't come to court to pay a traffic fine because they think they'll be deported.

"We have to reassure them that if they commit a traffic violation, they have an opportunity to show up in court and pay their fine and go on with their life," he said.

Which brings him back to the quest for a Portuguese-speaking officer.

He has recruited a dozen or so Brazilian civilians he can call on when a translator is needed, and he has issued a crime-prevention brochure in Portuguese, "but a cop would be better."

He believes that once Mount Vernon has one Brazilian officer, "He or she will be the best advertisement, and there will quickly be more." Chong said he was among just a handful of Chinese-Americans on the New York City police force in 1980, "and now there are approximately 800."

The Mount Vernon department of 204 officers is 59 percent white, 30 percent black and 8 percent Latino.

"I would hope to see a Portuguese-speaking officer in my time here," Chong said. "We have many children of native Brazilians who are now naturalized citizens, who have been here for eight or 10 years and would be qualified now to become police officers. Maybe that first one is right here in Mount Vernon High School, 17 or 18 years old, already thinking about a career."
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ ... 7696.story

English is the langauge of our country, remember?

Originally Posted by ELE

English is the langauge of our country, remember?

And we only want Legal Immigrants, keep your ILLEGALS for your own wonderful country!

We want to participate and give something before we ask for anything," he says. "We want to change people's ideas of what immigrants are like."

Fine, but you aren't changing our minds about ILLEGALS!

he said, many of the Brazilians in Mount Vernon are in the country illegally and fear that any encounter with an officer could lead to deportation.

I can only hope...

"If you're a victim of a crime, your immigration status is not going to come into play," the commissioner said. "We are trying to overcome this lack of trust because it hurts the people."

And there is another crime against us Americans. If they are here illegally, you won't be welcomed by 70% of America.!!

"We have to reassure them that if they commit a traffic violation, they have an opportunity to show up in court and pay their fine and go on with their life," he said.

Not if they are here illegally! That means they have no real license, and we know they are NOT insured.
It seems to ONLY be a crime if an AMERICAN drives without a license and insurance.
Political correctness screws us Americans and sets this country for an implosion.

We have many children of native Brazilians who are now naturalized citizens, who have been here for eight or 10 years and would be qualified now to become police officers.

Oh you mean anchor babies? Sorry, that's not an American that's just a criminals kid.