Number of Brazilians detained by in the US borders increases 142%

01/04/2017 - 09h04

The number of Brazilians detained trying to immigrate to the United States grew 142 percent from 2015 to last year, according to data from the US Border Patrol.

A total of 3,252 Brazilians were caught illegally crossing the US border in 2016, an average of nine cases per day. It is the highest number of the last five years.

In 2015, 1,344 Brazilians were detained. The US government figures are calculated according the country´s fiscal year, between October 1 and September 30 of the following year.

The main route for Brazilians continues to be the Mexican border: 3,188 (96%) cases. The Florida coast appears in a distant second place, with 91 cases (42 in 2015). This region is the port of landing for Brazilians who arrive by boat from the Bahamas.

The crossing of the Caribbean Sea is considered less risky than that of the desert on the border with Mexico - also more expensive, about US$ 20,000, twice as much as the crossing by land.

In November 6, 12 Brazilians went missing trying to reach the United States via Bahamas. So far, there is no definitive conclusion about what happened to the group.

The record of Brazilian detainees continues to be the one registered in 2005, 32,000 people. Most of them surrendered to the US authorities shortly after crossing the border with Mexico with the prospect of being released and a later court hearing - something that rarely occurred.

That flow was abruptly cut short when George W. Bush, the President at that time, created an automatic deportation mechanism, without the right to legal recourse.

Translated by MARINA DELLA VALLE

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