Tuesday's New York Times has this article about Brazilians returning to Brazil from the US. While it is interesting, it is also unsurprising; not just because of the issues mentioned in the article, but because most Brazilians who have immigrated here in my experience - and in the experience of Maxine Margolis, the foremost chronicler of Brazilian immigrants in the US - most Brazilians come to the US not for the purpose of settling permanently.
As the article also notes, many of them come from middle class backgrounds and have a decent education. They work very hard and have transformed many of their communities such as the Ironbound section of Newark and Somerville, Massachusetts. This is probably the most telling comment:
In Massachusetts, where there is more public transportation, a spate of high-profile immigration raids, coupled with home foreclosures, have played a key role in the exodus, said community leaders like Mr. da Rocha, a legal resident who came in 1989. “I believe we lost 5,000 Brazilians only this year,” he said. “The landlords are going to face a crisis soon.”
They've been a boon to their communities.let's see how the communities do without them.
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