For varying reasons, many leaving U.S.

A Telegraph Column By Eduardo A. de Oliveira ⇒ More Eduardo A. de Oliveira Columns
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbc ... -1/opinion
Published: Monday, September 10, 2007

On Friday, members of the Brazilian community celebrated their Independence Day.

It’s an important day to many in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and beyond.

Every year, Brazilian Day, as it is known in New York, galvanizes pride with a festival of more than a million people who sing the national anthem on Sixth Avenue.

On the same date, house cleaner Rosangela Nascimento, 53, of Nashua, flew back to Brazil after 15 years living in the city. Nascimento said she was missing her family and wanted to return home.

She has never seen her three grandsons and has been separated from three sons for 11 years.

Her long hours cleaning 25 homes in the Nashua region – at least 11 of those each week – have provided her with two homes and a small minimarket in Minas Geris, Brazil.

Fausto da Rocha, executive director for the Brazilian Immigrant Center, said Nascimento is among a growing number of people leaving the U.S. to return home, but she’s also an exception because she did not leave out of fear.

“So far in 2007, 5,000 Brazilians have returned home because of the climate of fear that immigration officials have instilled within the communities,â€