Immigration. For thousands of Brazilians every year, this is their dream: to leave Brazil, for at least a while, and find a way to save up, live their lives, and adapt to, another country. The most popular choice, is, unsurprisingly, the US. The story, unfortunately, is not exactly paved with gold, and Folha de S. Paulo, ran a number of pieces last Sunday about the experiences, history, and reality of Brazil-US immigration. I have translated a short example of the great work done by Brazil's best daily.
'The Sacrifice of Immigration isn't Worth It'
''Nobody believes us when we tell them that the situation in the US isn't that good. They insist in going despite our warnings, and our acquaintance in Brazil say, 'But, you're there!' Sure, they see the photos we send them of happy times. The think we've found a goldmine and have an easy life."
Soon, Alexandre Ferreira, Paranaense from Curitiba, will be able to present his neighbors with his most powerful argument: at the beginning of 2008, he'll return to Brazil with his wife Scheila, 30, and daughter Alissa, a month old.
There arrives a moment when everyone realizes that the sacrifice of entering the country illegally through the Mexican border, unrelenting sun beating down, and then living with the fear of being deported, far from home, from relatives, isn't worth it anymore," says Francisco 'Sampa,' president of the Brazilian American United Association.
"It takes two or three years for a person to pay back the coyote's price--the crossing costs between $7,000 and 15,000. Before this, he or she doesn't go back, but already realizes that there is no way to save anything in a short period of time," relates Alexandre, whose family shared a three-bedroom apartment in Newark with their friends Jose Leandro ferreira, 33, Thaigo Borges, 21, and Claudiomir Perotto, 33, all from Parana.
Perotto' intention was always to get a green card. He gave up after repeated failures, in Congress, of the immigration reform that George Bush proposed, shelved in June.
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