Brazilians deported from the United States report humiliation, racism and ill-treatment suffered during attempts to enter the country. Histories of abuse are recurrent among migrants held in detention centers after seeing passage across the Mexican border thwarted.
“They [agentes de segurança] treat us badly, [com] lack of education, they verbally attack because they cannot touch us. I didn’t really understand what they were saying, but all the time they were screaming ‘fuck you shit,'” he told leaf the farmer André Luiz Pereira do Vale, 19.
Today he lives in the rural community of Córrego do Dourado, in Tarumirim (MG). The city is located around Governador Valadares, in the east of Minas Gerais, historically marked by migration to the USA.
Last week, the leaf showed that Brazilians from that region risk their lives crossing Mexico and smugglers rent children for US$3,000 to facilitate illegal entry.
The young man from Tarumirim has already had eight brothers living in the US after this journey across the southern border. He also tried to enter the country in April this year, but the plan backfired when he turned himself in to US authorities and was denied asylum.
Vale said that the problems started in the screening phase, when he slept on the floor and was cold. He spent six months in a Mississippi detention center. The most traumatic moments he remembers are from that period and they made him definitively give up on another attempt to move to another country.
According to Vale’s account, verbal attacks by security agents were frequent. The farmer also complained about the meals, served with excess pepper.
In the face of offenses and constraints, he turned to faith. Catholic, he began preaching to Brazilians, Haitians and Venezuelans.
“It was God who helped me and supported me. I always had my faith, but I didn’t know God as I knew there,” he said.
Vale is one of many Brazilians deported weekly on flights chartered by the US government that arrive at Confins airport (MG). According to data from the Federal Police, there were 1,304 Brazilians in 2020 and 2021.
The terminal was chosen for disembarkation because 70% of those returning are from Minas Gerais. The word humiliation was the most cited in reports collected by leaf.
The US embassy, in a statement, said all government institutions are committed to respectful treatment. “We are concerned about the human suffering that these dangerous journeys bring to those who take them, especially for minors. Trying to enter the US illegally creates more problems than it solves,” the diplomatic representation’s press office said.
Student Melissa de Carvalho, 19, was arrested and sent to the state of Arizona. She said she did not receive dignified treatment in the cell, which was overcrowded.
“The debauchery was a lot with the look, they poked us, they looked at clothes, sneakers. They made fun of my hair. There were girls who had their periods running down their legs and the agents laughed, they even controlled the toilet paper,” he said.
Carvalho lives in Serra (ES) and went to the US in August to meet the family that was waiting for her. She was accompanied by her brother on the crossing, but only he was able to enter. She was sent back to Brazil last month.
According to the PF, the profile of the deportees, in most cases, is male, aged between 18 and 25 years old and who has tried to enter the US illegally before. Predominantly, the aspirants claim to be students, construction workers and commerce workers.
Cook Jhonatan Nogueira da Silva, 35, is one of the repeat offenders. He lived for eight years in the United States, from 2000 to 2008, and also tried to enter illegally in 2019.
Silva reported name calling and racist attitudes by agents. “Some abuse their authority, are very racist, dislike immigrants, speak, mock, criticize, especially those who do not speak English,” he said.
When he arrived in Brazil in November, he was carrying an orange bag, delivered by the American authorities, with his belongings. Silva said he was outraged at having been handcuffed on the deportees’ flight.
Vale, Carvalho and Silva are unanimous in criticizing the use of handcuffs, as they say they have never committed a crime. However, the practice of handcuffing deportees is customary in-flight US policy. The restriction is only removed when the plane lands on Brazilian soil.
According to João Francisco Campos da Silva Pereira, head of the Consular Assistance Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the exemption from the use of handcuffs on deportation flights is one of the main demands of Itamaraty and the Federal Police.
One of the arguments, says Pereira, is that most of the people detained are not criminals. Although migrants enter the country irregularly, migration in itself is not a crime.
Brazilian authorities have also asked that relatives not be separated in deportation and that Brazilians with health problems only board if they are able to travel after receiving medical treatment in the US.
The counterpart of Itamaraty and the PF was the authorization given to the Joe Biden government to send two flights of deportees a week. According to Brazilian authorities, the Americans are trying to negotiate a third flight.
Regarding the complaints of Brazilians, Pereira said that Itamaraty is not aware of all the problems reported because, in most cases, migrants do not seek official bodies.
Pereira explained that the ministry’s role is to ensure that Brazilians receive dignified treatment. However, according to him, it is important that the complaint is formalized so that the folder can ask for official explanations from the American authorities.
“What we see is that many Brazilians are afraid to go to the consulate, to seek our help, because they think we are going to report it to the local authorities, whether in the United States, Japan, Portugal, France,” said Pereira.
“We don’t do that. Our obligation is to assist, welcome Brazilians and provide the minimum amount of assistance that we can,” he said.
Guidance not to tell the authorities about the problems comes from smugglers and coyotes. According to reports from deportees, upon entering the United States they receive guidance on how and with whom they should speak.
To request asylum from the American authorities, for example, one of the guidelines is to say that they are under threat of death in Brazil or that they have been tortured by government agents, such as police officers and politicians.
The American embassy, in a statement, stated that the US welcomes legal migration as one of the cornerstones of the country’s formation. He also said that migration laws have not changed, will continue to be enforced and that the border is not open.
“Deportation flights continue, including to Brazil, and individuals who try to enter illegally must provide for removal to their country of origin,” says the note.
“Our message to individuals who consider making the dangerous and costly journey to try to enter the US illegally is simple: don’t,” the embassy said, echoing the official speech of President Biden and his deputy, Kamala Harris.
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