The use of handcuffs on Brazilian citizens deported from the United States created an impasse between the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and that of the American Joe Biden. Since the end of last year, Itamaraty has been making appeals to stop the practice and improve the treatment given to people sent back to Brazil, but it has been ignored.
A few months ago, minors were also deported.
According to testimonies obtained by the leaf, men and women were handcuffed in front of their children on a flight that arrived in Brazil on January 26. Some passengers told the report that they had been mistreated, and authorities involved in the process confirmed that they had received similar reports.
Although the request to abolish the use of handcuffs applies to all deportees, according to people involved in these operations, there was an understanding that family members, in particular, would not go through this situation.
By means of a note, the Foreign Ministry said that the situation is viewed with “great concern”. According to the folder, Minister Carlos França spoke by telephone with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on January 30th to discuss the matter.
Questioned by the report about the use of handcuffs in flight with children and adolescents, the agency said that it became aware of the fact. “Secretary Blinken replied that flight security protocols are not the responsibility of the Department of State, but he showed attention to the Brazilian request. He also informed that efforts would be made so that, in future deportation flights, composed solely of family groups, there would be no handcuffs are used,” said the folder.
In September, as shown by the leafthe Brazilian government had called for an end to the use of handcuffs for the US as part of the negotiation to increase the frequency of these flights to Brazil, given the greater volume of detainees on the US border with Mexico.
These Brazilians are sent back after attempts to enter the US illegally. By itself, this type of migration is not considered a crime under Brazilian law, but promoting it in order to make a profit is — since 2017. The Brazilian side has insisted that the majority of returning citizens have no prior criminal convictions and does not pose a threat to the safety of the aircraft.
The matter has become an impasse because US authorities have told Brazilian women that they understand the concern, but that they have not found a way to resolve the issue. According to information provided to Itamaraty, the use of handcuffs is a US practice on flights of this type to other countries and, therefore, it would be difficult to make an exception. Alternatives are being studied.
Deported on January 26, vigilante Everton Júnior Liberato, 36, was accompanied by his wife and 7-year-old son on a flight with 211 Brazilians from the US, 90 of whom were minors — including children up to 10 years old.
He says that he traveled on January 5, hoping to improve his life, and that he was separated from his family as soon as he entered American soil, staying at least ten days without hearing from his wife and son. At the reunion, he reported having gone through the embarrassment of having been handcuffed in front of the child.
“They tied a chain to my leg, waist, hands. My son asked me what they were doing to me, he cried a lot when he saw me handcuffed. He asked them [autoridades americanas] what they were doing and they just laughed,” he tells leaf.
According to Liberato, in addition to the conditions to which he himself was subjected, described by the guard as humiliating, his son still felt sick and did not receive assistance. He says that all the parents who were on his flight were handcuffed, except when the child traveled with only one parent – ​​there were cases of mothers in handcuffs as well.
“They tied a chain to my leg, waist, hands. My son asked me what they were doing to me, he cried a lot when he saw me handcuffed. He asked them [autoridades americanas] what were they doing and they just laughed
Law graduate Geisiane Vieira, 33, said her husband went through the same situation with their youngest son. “There is no dignity whatsoever. There is no medicine for adults and children, they don’t listen to us, there is abuse”, she says. Geisiane had arrived in the US on January 16, with her husband and children aged 12 and 15.
Stories of abuse are recurrent among migrants held in detention centers after having failed to cross the border with Mexico. Bad food and lack of medication and hygiene items are common complaints.
The intention of the families was to try to enter illegally on American soil by the system called “cai cai”. As children cannot remain alone during the procedures of repatriation to Brazil or acceptance by the US government, through this method adults enter the US accompanied by a minor relative and surrender to the authorities, which allows them to respond to the process in freedom.
Smugglers and “coyotes” saw this rule as a business opportunity.
When contacted, the US Embassy in Brazil did not respond until the publication of this text.
The number of children and adolescents sent back to the country on the January 26 flight was unprecedented in this type of operation. The plane with the 211 Brazilians left the state of Arizona and arrived at Tancredo Neves International Airport, in Confins (MG), around 1:30 pm.
Self-employed Ezequiel Santos da Silva, 27, was among them, after having gone to try his hand at life in the US with his wife and children aged 2 and 5 years. The intention was to work to save money and buy a house in Brazil. He says that he lived through difficult days separated from his family and was more of those in handcuffs when he returned to Brazil.
“I was handcuffed in front of the children, my girl despaired, she cried. I thought it was very bad, I’m a family man, I’m not a criminal. But they keep saying that we entered their country illegally.”
Federal Police delegate Daniel Fantini said that the corporation analyzes the depositions collected. The corporation is interested in identifying gangs that promote this irregular crossing, also investigating the circumstances in which the children left Brazilian territory and the conditions they were subjected to in the process of entering the USA.
The PF is investigating whether there are people in this group who pretend to be parents of minors, with false documents, to try to enter the US through the “cai cai”. “There are indications of fictitious marriages and stable unions”, emphasizes Fantini.
Such as leaf showed in a series of reports in December, smugglers working to promote irregular migration from Mexico to the US have profited from the rent of Brazilian children.
In addition to federal police officers, representatives of the Children and Youth Courts of Belo Horizonte and Pedro Leopoldo, a city in the metropolitan region of the capital of Minas Gerais, accompanied the disembarkation.
