Deportation in Brazil
Although it is not always in the headlines of the newspapers, Brazil also deports foreigners who, somehow, disobey laws. In this article you will learn more about this practice that is very common around the world.
In August, 1980, it was created the Estatuto do Estrangeiro (Foreigner's Statute). Established as a law, it determined the rights of foreigners who came to Brazil.
Considering that is was created during the Brazilian Military Dictatorship, it reflects the thinking of foreigners as threats, in a period when the national security and the control were the main worries of the government. Having this in mind, it's possible to comprehend that it no longer fits with the current situation. That's why it had been modified in 2009 by a law which, among other measures, grants the reciprocity in principle regarding the maximum time foreigners can stay in Brazil.
Deportation, expulsion and extradition
Brazil's Constitution determines that, when in peacetime, foreigners from every nationality have the right to arrive, stay and leave Brazil with their fortune and goods, at anytime they like.
The Estatuto do Estrangeiro determines three different established rules, of different characteristics and reasons to control the compulsory departure of foreigners from Brazil: deportation, expulsion and extradition.
It's possible to say that extradition is to force people to return to the country where they are being accused guilty of a crime, in order to settle a trial. Expulsion is when a foreigner is sent away from the country and forbidden to come back. Deportation is to force foreigners to leave the country, especially when they don't have the legal right to be there or when they have broken the law.
The deportation
The deportation consists in making foreigners who have clandestinely come to Brazil or haven't regularized their situation leave the country if they don't do it voluntarily. In this case, the illegal foreigner will be notified by the Polícia Federal (Federal Police) and will be granted a period from three to eight days in order to leave the country before being forced to.
A foreigner can be deported for reasons such as:
- Exert paid activity when it's not allowed;
- Exert a different paid activity than the one which has been authorized;
- Change the company to which the foreigner work for if it's not allowed by the Ministério do Trabalho (Ministry of Labor);
- Foreigners who don't have the permanent visa, students or tourists who exert paid activity.
The voluntary departure is what essentially distinguishes the deportation from the other compulsory forms of leaving. The deportation only occurs if the foreigner doesn't depart voluntarily within the time established.
Foreigners who were deported from Brazil have the right to come back to the country if they reimburse the Tesouro Nacional (National Treasury) for all the expenses made because of the departure.
Cases of deportation in Brazil
It's not very common to see in the Brazilian media that someone has been deported from here, especially in comparison to the number of deportations that happens in the United States – that deported approximately 400 thousand people in Fiscal Year 2011 – and in Europe.
However, there has been some specific cases of deportation. In March of 2008, two Brazilian students from a university of Rio de Janeiro were deported from Spain. After this case, that had serious repercussions because of the way the students would've been treated in the airport, there was a migratory crises with the Spanish. In two weeks, Brazil deported 33 foreigners from countries that were severe with the Brazilian immigrants, and 24 of them were from Spain. Brazilian authorities claimed that the actions were part of the principle of reciprocity.
This principle was also used against the United States in 2004. A Brazilian federal judge determined that every American who came to Brazil should be photographed and had a file opened, just like the USA was doing with Brazilian immigrants. The American pilot Dale Robbin Hersh showed his middle finger when he was to be photographed and paid a BRL 36 thousand fine before being deported.