Brazilian Immigration Surges Increase as Trump's Inauguration Approaches

01/10/2017 - 13h23

When Donald Trump promised to strengthen border policing right after he won the election, João (not his real name), who is from the state of Rondônia, realized it was time to speed things up when it came to crossing the border, so he set out to do so before Trump's inauguration on the 20th of January.

"Whenever a Republican takes office, the country becomes withdrawn", João told Folha last week on his flight back to Brazil after being deported from the Bahamas for trying to illegally enter the US from the Caribbeans.

The data indicates that many others agree with João's logic: the number of Brazilians detained and deported at the US border went soaring since November, which was when Trump was elected.

In the last two months of 2016, 940 Brazilians were caught trying to illegally cross the US border, an average of 15.4 arrests per day.

That's a 73% increase when compared to the daily average throughout the country's fiscal year (which goes from October 1st, 2015, to September 30th, 2016), when 3,252 Brazilians were arrested (8.9 arrests per day). The data was supplied by the US Border Patrol.

The 2016 fiscal year already registered a 142% increase when compared to 2015, when 1,344 Brazilians were arrested - an average of 3.6 arrests per day.

The long-lasting economic crisis is considered the main reason to move, according to the Brazilian immigrants interviewed.
Only a small fraction of immigrants choose to cross the border from the Bahamas (most cross the US-Mexico border).

But preliminary data indicates that in November and December alone, 26 immigrants were deported from the US, while only 30 were deported during the nine preceding months.

According to the American press, Brazilians aren't the only ones trying to swiftly cross the border before Trump takes office. Central Americans are also trying to do so.

SECOND TIME
João's plan was to start living close to New York again. He had already lived in that region back in the early 2000s and worked as a carpenter. If he had managed to successfully cross the border, his wife and teenage daughter would have flown to the US with a tourist visa shortly after.

Among the 5 other Brazilians trying to cross the border along with João was another immigrant who also mentioned that he factored in Trump's election when deciding when to travel.

They would've paid US$ 20,000 if they had managed to successfully cross the border. Since they didn't make it, they only had to pay for the plane ticket to the Bahamas along with the other travel-related expenses they incurred before getting caught.

Between the wait before crossing the border from Bimini, a tiny island - where one can see a lit up Miami at night - the unfortunate expedition lasted two weeks, as well as another 5 days in prison at the overcrowded detention center in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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