Alan Marcus Experiencing Ethnic Economies Brazilian Immigrants

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Experiencing Ethnic Economies: Brazilian Immigrants and ReturneesAlan P. Marcusaa Department of Geography and Environmental Planning, Towson University, Towson, Maryland,USA

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Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 9:5781, 2011Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1556-2948 print / 1556-2956 onlineDOI: 10.1080/15562948.2011.547826

Experiencing Ethnic Economies:Brazilian Immigrants and Returnees

ALAN P. MARCUSDepartment of Geography and Environmental Planning,

Towson University, Towson, Maryland, USA

Brazilian immigrants in the United States experience socioeco-nomic changes and engage in various professional occupations.Migrant livelihoods and experiences are affected in two receivingcommunities in the United States (Framingham, Massachusetts,and Marietta, Georgia), and in two sending communities in Brazil(Governador Valadares and Piracanjuba). What are the most com-mon professional occupations among Brazilians immigrants, andwhat were their professional occupations prior to migrating? Howare immigrants livelihoods and experiences being shaped by cur-rent economic exchanges spurred by immigration? I evaluate theseimportant questions by looking at changes at the micro-level, withinmigrants occupations, experiences, and economic transactions. Byweaving though survey results and excerpts from a total of 273 in-terviews in two receiving communities and returnees in two sendingcommunities, I illustrate how migration processes have significantlyaffected ethnic economies and livelihoods at the micro-level in bothreceiving and sending communities. Most returnees had workedin service sector occupations, such as construction work amongmen, and housecleaning among women; and, among those whoremained in the United States, became business owners, teachers,or continued to work within service sectors.

KEYWORDS Brazilian immigration, ethnic economies, ethnic ge-ography, return migration, transnationalism

Address correspondence to Alan P. Marcus, PhD, Department of Geography and En-vironmental Planning, Towson University, 8000 York Rd., Towson, MD 21252-0001. E-mail:[email protected]

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58 A. Marcus

INTRODUCTION

The influx of recent immigrants1 to the United States in the past four decadeshas transformed U.S. ethnic landscapes and economies in various significantways (Berry & Henderson, 2003; Frazier & Tettey-Fio, 2006; Kaplan & Li,2006; Miyares & Airriess, 2007). Since the implementation of the U.S. Immi-gration and Nationality Act of 1965, which removed national quotas favoringEuropean immigration, Latin American immigration to the United States in-creased notably (Sierra, Carrillo, DeSipio, & Jones-Correa, 2000, p. 536).Today, Brazilian immigrants are second among the three largest U.S. unau-thorized population percent increases from 2000 to 2006, with an averageannual population change of 110% (U.S. Department of Homeland Security,2006). An estimated 1.2 million Brazilians live in the United States (Figure 1;Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2002), yet the U.S. Census 2000 countedonly 212,428 Brazilians (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2000a, 2000b), andthe American Community Survey in 2007 counted only 301,621,159 (U.S.Census Bureau, 2007).

Brazilian immigrants sent US$6 billion in remittances back to Brazil in2004, representing about 1% of the Brazilian gross domestic product (GDP),

FIGURE 1 Map of the United States (Framingham and Marietta) Note. Map by Paporn Theb-panya.


Brazilian Immigrants and Returnees 59

however; because most of these remittances were sent informally, the Brazil-ian Central Bank (Banco Central) officially registered only US$2.4 million inremittances for the same year (Martes & Soares, 2006). Rather than engage inexhaustive theoretical or comprehensive economic analyses of Brazilian im-migrant economies,2 I provide glimpses at the micro-level of such economicactivities by highlighting Brazilian immigrant livelihoods, experiences, andoccupations, before and after migration occurs. These results are nongeneral-izable, as they were not originally intended to statistically represent Brazilianimmigrant populations at the macro-levelparticularly since the great ma-jority (estimated at over 75%) of the Brazilian immigrant population in theUnited States is undocumented (Margolis, 1994; Sales, 1998). The objectiveof this study was to evaluate an older migration corridor between Gover-nador Valadares and Framingham, well-established in the literature (Almeida,2003; Margolis, 1994, 1998; Sales, 1998; Siqueira, 2006), and a more recentmigration corridor between Piracanjuba and Marietta, unstudied until now(Figures 1 and 2).

What are the most common Brazilian immigrant occupations in two re-ceiving communities of Framingham, Massachusetts, and Marietta, Georgia,in the United States; and, what were the most common occupations prior tomigrating in two sending communities of Governador Valadares and Pira-canjuba in Brazil? How are economic exchanges and immigrant livelihoodsbeing shaped by migration processes? How are immigrants and returnees ex-periencing economic changes? Using multiple methods, (including primaryand secondary data analysis; Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967), I ad-dress these important questions of particular interest to ethnic geographers,social scientists, and public policy makers.

Despite the magnitude of Brazilian immigration to major U.S. metropoli-tan areas (Figure 3), Brazilians remain largely unknown to the generalU.S. public. Disproportionate emphasis placed on Spanish-speaking Amer-ica within U.S. academia and disseminated within U.S. public discourses,have contributed to minimizing the presence of Brazilian immigrants in theUnited States. Moreover, references to the terms Hispanic and Latino areproblematic. The U.S. Census does not consider Brazilians to be Hispanic(since 1990) or Latino (since 2000), because they do not speak Spanish(Office of Management and Budget, 2006); about one in every three LatinAmericans speaks Portuguesenot Spanish. Brazil deserves a much-needed(re)insertion within U.S.-Latin American dialogues, especially since the use ofthe terms Latino and Hispanic have in a sense, hijacked most academic andpublic debates, and have contributed to a misappropriation of Latin Americaas a monolithic, ethno-racial, Spanish-speaking cultural realm (Marcus, 2008,2009b, 2011). Therefore, I evaluate a new ethnic geography of Brazilian im-migration largely from without the Hispanic or Latino realm (see Oboler,1995; Falconi & Mazzoti, 2007).


60 A. Marcus

FIGURE 2 Map of Brazil (Governador Valadares and Piracanjuba). Note. Map by PapornThebpanya. Figures 1 and 2 reprinted with permission from JCG Press, Oklahoma StateUniversity. Marcus, Alan Patrick 2009. (Re)creating Places and Spaces in Two Countries:Brazilian Transnational Migration Processes. Journal of Cultural Geography (26)2: 173198.

BACKGROUND AND THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS

Extensive mica and quartz extraction during World War II (Abreu, 1946),particularly in Governador Valadares and region (Vale do Rio Doce), ledto the development of ongoing contacts between local residents and visit-ing American engineers and geologists at that time, and to subsequent firstmigrations, particularly local upper-class youth in the 1960s, widely cov-ered by local media during that time period (Siqueira, 2006). Additionally,U.S. Protestant missionaries (mostly Pentecostals), had proselytized in thoseregions, particularly in Piracanjuba in the 1970s and 1980s. Later, after the



FIGURE 3 Estimates of Brazilians Residing in the Top 8 U.S. Metropolitan Areas: 2002 (Total1.2 million Brazilians). Note. Since there was no consular office in Georgia until July 2008, andwith an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 Brazilian immigrants living in the Metro Atlanta region,it is likely that the Miami consulate numbers are overinflated. If Atlanta were to be includedhere, then it would be ranked in 4th or 5th in this list. Source: Brazilian Ministry of ForeignAffairs (2002).

U.S. missionaries left Brazil, locals in those regions who stayed in contactwith those missionaries also gained access to religious and labor marketnetworks (i.e., construction work or housecleaning) forged by these ties,particularly in Atlanta, Georgia, generating and sustaining successive andexponential migration flows to the United States.

When the exchange-rate of the Brazilian real to the U.S. dollar recentlyreached a peak low in August 2007, at a rate of RS$1.94 to the U.S.$1, 25cities in the region of Governador Valadares felt the economic impact andexperienced a significant halt in the real estate sectors and in local invest-ments (Moreira, 2007). Brazilian immigrants send monthly financial remit-tances ranging from US$500 to US$1,000 back to their sending communities(Siqueira, 2006, p. 25). Entire communities have become dependent on theseremittanceslocals call it Vala-dollar (U.S. dollar remittances to GovernadorValadares). When the U.S. dollar exchange-rate decreases, economic rippleeffects are felt throughout those sending communities generating financialstagnation and resulting in a generalized local crisis (Moreira, 2007). Theseexamples illustrate the broader impact of transnational interactions affectinglocal economies across formal borders.

Most Brazilian immigrants in the United States work in service sectorjobs; conducted only by the lowest socioeconomic populations in Brazil,and carrying a strong negative social stigma in that country (e.g., empregadaor housecleaner, and pedreiro or construction worker). However, Brazilianimmigrants, unlike most Mexicans and Central Americans (Portes & Hoffman,2003), are not fleeing a civil war, nor are they escaping rural dire poverty


62 A. Marcus

(Margolis, 1994; Sales, 1998). I will show how Brazilian immigrants whoonce occupied archetypal middle-class social spaces in Brazil (e.g., teacher,clerk, policeman, bank teller, etc.) and had housecleaners of their own, nowoccupy very different socioeconomic spaces after migrating to the UnitedStates. However, for long-time Brazilian immigrant residents in the UnitedStates, many have reverted to archetypal middle-class occupations.

After migrating to the United States, social class categories for Brazilianimmigrants become blurred and confusing for a number of reasons. Socialclass is commonly characterized in the social sciences by differential accessto power-conferring resources and related life chances (Portes & Hoffman,2003, p. 43). However, how does one categorize those Brazilian immigrantswho were considered lower-middle class or lower class in Brazil, andafter migrating to the United States generate over US$8,000 in monthly rev-enues as housecleaning business owners? Or those Brazilian immigrants whowere once lawyers, engineers, or physicians in Brazil, and, who after migrat-ing (sometimes, as undocumented immigrants) to the United States, nowwork as housecleaners, construction workers, or pizza-delivery drivers? Agood example of this caveat comes from one interviewee in Framingham.She is college-educated and once afforded a full-time servant at her homein Brazil, and now she cleans houses for a living in Framingham (she ownsher housecleaning business). This same individual had gone on vacation onthree separate occasions in 2007, including renting a villa in Northern Italywith her husband. Which social class category fits this individual? In general,social class may remain an important and dynamic socioeconomic indicator,since it reflects income revenues as well as respective cultural, political, andsocial capital levels imbued in those professions. However in this case, Ihave not included it in my discussions on Brazilian immigration because ofits inherent limitations reflected by these important questions and caveats.

I use three theoretical approaches. First, I use a transnational approachto focus on the significance of ongoing immigrants ties and loyalties to coun-try of origin through various spatial, sociocultural, and financial processes(e.g., Basch, Schiller & Blanc, 1995; Levitt, 2001, 2004, 2007; Tsuda, 1999).Social activities and consumer behavior, for example, ranging from retriev-ing information from the World Wide Web and sending e-mails to drinkingCoca-Cola, wearing jeans, listening to pop music, and eating at McDonalds,are no longer restricted to one single geographic location or culture, andas Peggy Levitt informed us: the spread of global media has brought thecore to all the worlds peripheries. Many of todays migrants arrive partiallysocialized into aspects of Western, if not North American culture (2001, p.25). For example, a Brazilian immigrant man in Marietta told me during aninterview, I was Americanized when I lived Brazil. It was when I started tolive in America that I started to learn about my own country . . . . only then Ibecame Brazilianized! Therefore, instead of examining merely permanentor temporary migration, transnational approaches provide alternate views



on migration processes than span beyond strictly contained boundaries orborders.

Transnational migration processes affect multiple social, political, andeconomic activities where ties, connections, and loyalties engaged betweencountry of origin and country of destination occur beyond formal borders(Basch et al., 1995). Peggy Levitt and Mary Waters summarized these pro-cesses by how ordinary individuals live their everyday lives across bordersand the consequences of their activities for sending-and receiving-countrylife (2002, p. 8). In this article, I evaluate how economic transactions andethnic economies within migration corridors provide important examples oftransnational exchange flows.

In addition to a transnational approach, I explore the Brazilian immi-grant component in the same vein as ethnic geographers who have evaluatedthe shaping of new U.S. ethnic landscapes (e.g., Allen & Turner, 2009; Berry& Henderson, 2002; Boswell & Jones, 2007; Constantinou, 2002; Frazier &Tettey-Fio, 2006; Hardwick, 2006; Kaplan & Li, 2006; Li, 2006, 2007; Mi-yares & Airriess, 2007; Smith, 2006; Teixeira, 2006). This body of work isquite broad, rich, and recent. Ethnic geographers contribute to the importantstudy of migration and ethnicity, and play a significant role in conveying thespatial processes that occur within the multilayered dimensions of ethnicityand place. Although there are many publications available on Brazilian mi-gration (e.g., Almeida, 2003; Beserra, 2003; Goza, 1999; Margolis, 1994, 1995,1998; Marrow, 2003, 2007; Martes, 2000; Sales, 1998; Siqueira, 2006; Tsuda,1999), geographers have conducted very little research specifically on Brazil-ians, with some exceptions (e.g., Allen & Turner, 2004; Jackiewicz & Sun,2003); I wish to fill this gap and contribute to this broad body of literature.

Finally, I concur with David Kaplan and Wei Lis statement, Ethnicgroups have the ability to imprint landscapes with their own meaning inways both evident and subtle (2006, p. 9). In this article I explore bothevident and subtle meanings of these ethnic economies. That is, I eval-uate ethnic economies and geographies observable through surveys (i.e.,primary and secondary quantitative data) as well as I take a deeper lookinto how immigrants experience place by exploring the subtle meanings ofthese economic changes incurred through migration processes (i.e., primaryqualitative data).

METHODS

I conducted fieldwork research (September 2006September 2007) in Fram-ingham, Massachusetts, and Marietta, Georgia, United States (Figure 1); Gov-ernador Valadares, in the state of Minas Gerais; and, Piracanjuba, in the stateof Goias, Brazil (Figure 2).


64 A. Marcus

TABLE 1 Total Number of Individuals Interviewed, United States and Brazil, 20062007

United States Brazil

Interview Types Framingham Marietta Gov.Valadares Piracanjuba TOTAL

In-depth 25 25 25 25 100Informal 48 59 38 28 173Total 73 84 63 53 273

In-depth interviews consisted of two parts: (a) formal semi-structured interviews, and (b) formal struc-tured interviews using a survey instrument.Informal interviews consisted of unstructured informal interviews.

I used a survey instrument (20 questions) in 100 interviews conducted inall four research locations (25 in each place) and selected qualitative narrativeextracts (i.e., vignettes) from a total of 273 formal and informal interviewsin all four research locations (Table 1). To supplement primary researchdata I analyzed 1,200 application forms filled out by Brazilian immigrants(estimated total of 20,000 forms since 1997) from 1999 to 2006 at a CatholicCenter run by Brazilians in Framingham providing services to the Brazilianimmigrant community. From these forms I selected at random a total of 400application forms from 1999 to 2004 (40 women and 40 men for each yearbetween 1999 and 2004), along with a total of 800 application forms filledout in 2005 and 2006 (200 women and 200 men for each year). I also usedsecondary data to supplement primary data results.

Overall, I interviewed slightly more women (51%), than men (49%).The average age of all interviewees was 42 years old (ranging from 1874years of age). The average length of stay in the United States for all Brazilianmigrants interviewed was 7 years. Immigrants who remained in the UnitedStates had been in the country an average of 10 years, while returneesaverage stay in the United States was 5 years. Almost all interviewees had atleast one family member living in the United States prior to their departurefrom Brazil, highlighting the importance of transnational social and religiousnetworks facilitating the migration process.

Immigrants from Goias (Goianos) made up a majority of the respon-dent sample in Marietta (36%), followed by immigrants from Minas Gerais(Mineiros; 20%), Sao Paulo (Paulistas; 12%) and Rio de Janeiro (Cariocas;8%). Goianos also made up the majority in Framingham (34%), followed byimmigrants from Parana (Paranaenses; 29%), Minas Gerais (25%), and SantaCatarina (Catarinenses; 4%). Overall, 71% of my interviewees were docu-mented (i.e., legally entered U.S. territory) and 29% were undocumented.All returnees were born and residents in their respective sending commu-nities. I only use first names of interviewees (pseudonyms) here, to protecttheir anonymity.

The glaring undercount of Brazilian immigrants, discussed earlier, ini-tially represented a statistical challenge for random sampling. To circumvent



this methodological challenge, I used a snowball sampling technique (SeeMargolis, 1994, p. xxi). Contacts generated in Marietta and Framingham pro-vided important social and religious networks that were useful in Piracanjubaand Governador Valadares later on in my research. These ongoing contactsallowed for a continual flow of other successive contacts.

Since Massachusetts has been a long-standing destination forPortuguese-speaking populations such as the Portuguese, Azorean, and CapeVerdean communities, particularly in Fall River, New Bedford, Ludlow, andSomerville (Adler, 1972); this fact may also help explain why so many Brazil-ians initially gravitated to this state, as the language-factor may have alsofacilitated the migration process and later, with the subsequent developmentof localized social and labor networks. I selected Governador Valadaresand Framingham because of their status as traditional sending and receiv-ing communities respectively, and because they are well-established in theliterature as migration corridors (Almeida, 2003; Margolis, 1994, 1998; Sales,1998; Siqueira, 2006).

During exploratory interviews, several Brazilian immigrants in Framing-ham, mostly from the states of Minas Gerais or Goias, informed me of theirrelatives who had recently relocated to Marietta (many were from Piracan-juba). I also conducted exploratory research in Piracanjuba, and found outthat most interviewees were either returnees themselves, or had family mem-bers residing in the United States, mainly in Marietta or the Greater Atlantaarea. Hence my snowball sample in Marietta and Piracanjuba opened upvaluable research opportunities, and later, I also selected both as researchsites (unstudied until now).

Fieldwork and participant observation in sending communities were in-strumental in providing a complete scope of the Brazilian migration process,and interviews with returnees provided crucial information.3 Establishingcontacts and conducting research in the community of origin was extremelyhelpful when I later conducted interviews in the United States, confirmingthe work of Wayne Cornelius (1982). Therefore, site selection was based onthese migration corridors.

An Overview of Brazilian Entries into U.S. Territory

The period of 2000 to 2007 (Figure 4) represents the peak years for Brazil-ians who became legal permanent residents (LPR; 75,626 individuals; U.S.Department of Homeland Security, 2006). This peak is by far the largest inU.S. history, and in conjunction with other factors, likely to be a direct re-sult of the U.S. political environment after the 9/11 attacks, exerting overtpressure on all non-U.S. citizens, and particularly unauthorized immigrants.The second largest number of Brazilians (50,744) who became LPRs occurredduring the period 1990 to1999, and possibly a direct outcome of the so-called


66 A. Marcus

FIGURE 4 Total Brazilians Obtaining Legal Permanent U.S. Resident Status: Fiscal Years18202006. Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2006).

lost decade in Brazil (i.e., the Brazilian economic downfall in the mid- tolate-1980s). The third largest number (29,238) was reported during the pe-riod of 1960 to 1969 (coinciding with the height of the Brazilian militarydictatorship in Brazil lasting from 1964 to 1985).

Brazilians were second among the three largest unauthorized popula-tion percent increases from 2000 to 2006 (with an average annual populationchange of 110%), after India (125%) and before Honduras (75%; U.S. De-partment of Homeland Security, 2005, p. 2). Brazilians are the fourth largestnational group of all individuals apprehended along the southern border(representing 2.6% of all apprehensions), after Mexicans (86.1%), Hondurans(4.4%), and El Salvadorians (3.3%), among others. Mexico began requiringtourist visas for Brazilians in October 2005, reducing the number of appre-hensions from more than 31,000 apprehensions in fiscal 2005 to an estimated1,500 Brazilian apprehensions in 2006 (Reel, 2006, p. A22).

Moving beyond the entry into U.S. territory, in the following three sec-tions I discuss selected interviews which explore transnational economicinteractions. In the last section, I discuss survey results which focus onBrazilian occupations before and after migrating to the United States.

Experiencing Change

In this section I provide brief vignettes (i.e., excerpts from semistructuredinterviews) to illustrate how socioeconomic spaces are experienced and ne-gotiated by three Brazilian immigrants (two in Marietta, and one in Fram-ingham), and one returnee (in Piracanjuba). Insights from these vignettesand qualitative narratives provide an important context to survey resultsdiscussed later.



1. Like most Brazilian immigrant men in Framingham, Leandro, age 47, workswith painting, landscaping, and construction. He is a Mineiro. However,he regrets his decision to migrate 10 years ago as he is now very unhappy,and cannot return to Brazil now since he is still paying off his financialdebts incurred from expenses used to enter into U.S. territory. Leandroworked for 4 years in construction, waking up at 4 a.m. daily; he told mehow he would wake up in his bed and stare at the ceiling before leaving towork, wondering, what I am doing here? His boss at the construction siterequested that he gather other Brazilian immigrant workers and he wasresponsible for driving them to the construction site. They would arrive atthe construction site at 7 a.m., and after working all day in construction,he returned the Brazilian workers back to Framingham by 3:30 p.m. Hereturned to his home by 5:30 p.m., and repeated this schedule, 6 days aweek, earning about US$700 (cash) weekly, while working an average of10 to 12 hours daily for 65 to 70 hours weekly.

2. On the other hand, Jucara, age 47, originally from Goiania and now arealtor in Marietta, explained how some Brazilians overestimate their pre-dicted earnings in the United States, because they convert to Braziliancurrency, reais, without considering the high cost of living in the UnitedStates. Nonetheless, sales in her real estate company are going well, asshe explained:

I went to close a sale for an apartment in Goiania here in Marietta withthis Brazilian woman for US$65,000. She bought the most expensiveone and paid her down payment with US$40,000 in cash! Turned outshe didnt even have a bank account.

3. Expanding on these transnational connections, newly formed networksforged between Brazilian Pentecostal pastors and Brazilian immigrantsin sending and receiving communities fulfill an important role in newmigration networks. As Chico from Piracanjuba, age 47, a former pastorwho lives in Marietta explained:

I called my cousin, then her nephew came, then my sister and herfriend, and so one started to bring another from Brazil. I workedfor 5 years in construction with installation pipes. I worked with theson of an American missionary that I had known in Goias. I was thefirst employee of his company, now one of the largest installationcompanies for Home Depot. I would make all the references of thosefriends and family who I knew in Piracanjuba and recommended them,and then afterwards they would bring others from over there.

Furthermore, Chicos case demonstrates the network connectionsforged, for example, between U.S. missionaries from Georgia and Brazilianimmigrants from Piracanjuba, and how these ties result in the expansion


68 A. Marcus

of construction work for men and housecleaning for women. Religiousnetworks facilitate the outreach of Brazilian business owners, especiallythose who are Pentecostals, providing them with direct access and au-tomatic entree into Brazilian immigrant markets through church mem-berships, and/or via business dissemination of church pastors, who areoften business owners themselves (Martes & Soares, 2006; Levitt, 2007).Furthermore, religious institutions, particularly Pentecostal churches (e.g.,Assembleia de Deus, Assembly of God) stand to gain on various levelsfrom acquiring new members (e.g., they require 10% to be collected fromeach members monthly salary, the tithe) and therefore will tend to prose-lytize aggressively with the promise of helping newcomers in their migranttrajectories.

4. Returnees often face challenges upon their return to Brazil. For example,Bosco, age 33, a returnee in Piracanjuba, had paid US$12,000 to crossinto the U.S. territory. When he returned to Brazil, he bought a car andfurniture for his houseas returnees commonly do by engaging in con-spicuous consumption to avoid the local social stigma of been perceivedas failures in their journey as immigrants. He worked on swimmingpools in Marietta, making an average of US$1,200 weekly, working a 6-day week, 12 to 15 hours daily. He told me that he never left cash in hisapartment for fear that somebody might steal it, so he would carry sumsof up to US$3,000 wrapped in a plastic bag in his pocket, every day whenhe worked, until ultimately wiring it back to Brazil. His descriptions aboutcash exchange provide important glimpses into the magnitude of globalmoney transfers:

At one time I had US$6,000 in my pocket . . . I would wrap it ina plastic bag so it would get ruined by my sweat. Other Brazilianstypically carry $2,000 in their pockets, until they wire it back to Brazil.My friend once saved $100,000 in cash in the apartment. I didnt savethat much, because I always sent my money back to Brazil: US$2,000to US$3,000 with a local remittance service.

After Bosco returned to Piracanjuba, he had no intentions of returning tothe United States for a second time, but the standard of living had increasedfor him and his family as they had made so many purchases, buying newfurniture, cars, and clothes, and now they needed to maintain this standardof living. His second trip to the United States exacerbated marital conflicts,eventually prompting Bosco to return to Brazil in order to save his marriage.Now he works for a local grain company and told me, I was glad to haveexperienced America, but keeping my family was more important.

Brazilian Immigrant Taxes and Remittances

The following two interviews with Brazilian business ownersa tax houseowner in Framingham and a travel agency and remittance-wiring business



FIGURE 5 Average Brazilian Immigrant Income. Source: A Brazilian-owned tax business,Framingham, Massachusetts.

owner in the Greater Atlanta areaprovide two more examples of howBrazilian ethnic economies are being shaped by transnational migration pro-cesses. More importantly, such insider perspectives of Brazilian immigrantincome earnings and financial remittances provide another context to under-standing subsequent primary survey results.

Ivan, a Mineiro, is the owner of a major income tax firm in Framingham,where 90% of his clients are Brazilians. The other 10% are split between otherLatin American immigrants and U.S.-born citizens. He started his company in1995 as an accounting and income tax firm, and his company has grown 20%every year in the past 10 years. Today Ivan processes a total of 5,000 tax formsin Framingham, and the other 4,000 processed by his other office branchesthroughout the state. Ivan explained that the volume of tax declarationsincreased since the 9/11 attacks: Brazilians then became more organizedbecause they didnt want any problems with immigration agencies or InternalRevenue Services.

The average yearly individual earnings among Ivans Brazilian immigrantclientele ranged between US$10,000 and US$60,000; where 50% individu-ally earn, on average, US$50,000 to US$60,000, 20% individually make over$60,000, and the remaining 30% individually earn US$10,000 to US$40,000(Figure 5). These figures provide insights into how Brazilian immigrants areimpacting global and local financial landscapes.

According to a recent study, based on U.S. Census 2000, the me-dian annual household income for Brazilians living in the United Statesin 2000 was US$38,570, with 18% of all Brazilian households falling inthe US$50,000$74,999 range. Just over 9% of households earn betweenUS$74,999 and US$99,999 (Lima & Siqueira, 2008, p. 5). These national fig-ures roughly overlap with those figures in Framingham provided by Ivan(Figure 5). Brazilians contribute an estimated $4 billion annually to the U.S.economy by spending on consumer goods and services (Lima & Siqueira2008, p. 5).


70 A. Marcus

Souto, age 40, is the owner of a successful Atlanta-based remittance andtravel agency. Most of his business focuses on airfare sales to Brazil (90%),while financial remittances to Brazil represent a smaller component of hisbusiness (10%). The highest number of airfare sales was to the state of Goias,followed by: Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo, and Pernambuco. Remittance amountsrange from US$300 to US$3,000, and most were sent to Goias (representing75% of all financial remittances).

These new ethnic economies support the existence of important mi-gration corridors operating between these four states in two countries, andare shaping new transnational geographies. Furthermore, the previous eval-uations show how Brazilian immigrants significantly contribute to the U.S.economy. In fact, according to the U.S. Census 2000, Brazilian businessesin the United States account for US$1 billion in yearly revenues and em-ploy more than 10,400 people, contributing with US$108 million in state andfederal taxes (Lima & Siqueira, 2008, p. 5).

New Immigrant Banking Perspectives

Brazilian immigrants also help shape the banking sector. As a result, thebanking industry has attempted to tap into the Brazilian immigrant mar-ket. I use two examples next to highlight perspectives and insights on theexpansion of these new immigrant markets.

Felicia works for a subsidiary of a major U.S. bank that markets itsservices to Latin Americans in the greater Atlanta areathe so-called His-panic or Latino market. Although she is Colombian-born and does not speakPortuguese, the bank assigned her to work within Mariettas large Brazilianimmigrant population locations. She told me she is trying to learn Portugueseand more about Brazilian culture, but up to now has not really understoodthe Brazilian immigrant mindset, because, as she puts it, is different fromColombian culture. Her job entails the recruitment of Brazilian immigrants tosign up for tax identifications. She explained that undocumented Brazilianscan register to pay their taxes and that they are eligible for tax returns, andthat 80% of her clientele are mostly Goianos. Obtaining a tax identificationnumber does not mean a replacement for a U.S. Social Security card; rather itallows undocumented immigrants to buy a car, a house, and so on. All that isrequired to register with the bank are two of the following options: passport,consular matriculate, electoral card, drivers, birth or medical certificates, orU.S. visa.

On the other hand, Alejandro, also Colombian-born, is a branch man-ager for another major U.S. bank in Marietta, condemns these predatorybank practices upon unauthorized immigrants. According to Alejandro, re-tail banking represents 30% of the Latin American immigrant market sharein the United States, and, in Marietta, Brazilian immigrants represent 80% ofthis market. He continued:



Most Brazilians will open a bank account, or look into a car loan, abusiness loan. We are one of the primary mortgage holders in the U.S.Brazilians are considered high risk customers and highly profitable finan-cially . . . just like junk bonds, stocks. Most Brazilians that have accountshere work with tile, construction, and are mostly from Goias . . . thatshow you say it, right? Goias?

He informed me how his Brazilian clients income levels vary, citing anexample of one customer of his who made over a million dollars in oneyear, while another Brazilian client only made US$15,000. Currently, thereis only one Brazilian employee who speaks Portuguese at this bank branch,and she is overloaded with work. These vignettes illustrate the broader sideof transnational interactions stemming from migration processes, providingimportant qualitative insights from research fieldwork. Next I discuss occu-pations Brazilians had before they left Brazil, and occupations they held afterthey arrived in the United States.

Survey Results: Occupations Before and After Migration

In this section I focus on quantitative insights from 100 survey interviews(25 in each research site) using a survey instrument. All respondents wereasked to indicate their occupation after migrating to the United States (i.e.,Brazilians in the United States; Table 2) and their occupation in Brazil priorto migrating (i.e., Brazilians in Brazil; their occupations in Brazil; Table 3).

TABLE 2 Overall Percentage Breakdown by Occupation in the United States in Each Site(i.e., Brazilians who work or worked in the United States)

Marietta % Framingham % Piracanjuba % Gov. Val. %

Construction 20 Teacher 16 Housecleaning 32 Housecleaning 32Business owner 16 Housecleaning 12 Construction 24 Construction 20Housecleaning 12 Bank teller 12 Pizza delivery 16 Roofer 12Teacher 8 Secretary 12 Student 8 Babysitter 8Clerk 4 Business owner 12 Babysitter 4 Landscaping 8Accountant 4 Construction 8 Landscaping 4 Restaurant 8Marketing 4 Student 8 None 4 Nurse 4Editor 4 Groundsman 4 Painting 4 Journalist 4Engineer 4 Manager 4 Restaurant 4 McDonalds 4Hairdresser 4 Missionary 4 Travel agent 4 Pastor 4 Journalist 4 Realtor 4 Mechanic 4 Net Administrator 4Realtor 4 Totals 100 100 100 100

Source: Authors survey.


72 A. Marcus

TABLE 3 Overall Percentage Breakdown by Occupation in Brazil (prior to migrating) in EachSite (i.e., Brazilians in Brazil and their occupations in Brazil)

Marietta % Framingham % Piracanjuba % Gov.Val. %

Sales 16 Teacher 28 Student 12 Sales 16Student 16 Student 16 Clerk 8 Clerk 16Clerk 12 Business owner 12 Sales 8 Retired 12Architect 8 Clerk 12 State employee 8 Journalist 8Business 8 Precious stones 8 Teacher 8 Teacher 8

ownerTeacher 8 Bank teller 4 Artist 4 Welder 8Accountant 4 Beautician 4 Business owner 4 Bank Teller 4Bank teller 4 Dietician 4 Classical musician 4 Business owner 4Engineer 4 Military police 4 Construction 4 Lawyer 4Hairdresser 4 Pedagogist 4 Economist 4 Military Police 4Housewife 4 Sales 4 Farmer owner 4 Nurse 4Systems 4 Gas Attendant 4 Seamstress 4

analystTelephone 4 Lawyer 4 Student 4

techinicianTravel agent 4 Military Policeman 4 Unemployed 4

Moto-taxi 4 Policeman 4 Promoter 4 Rural worker 4 School Director 4

Totals 100 100 100 100

Source: Authors survey.

In general, after migrating, occupations in the service sectors (e.g., house-cleaning, construction) were the largest, although in the case of Framingham,teaching was the largest. On the other hand, predominating occupations priorto migrating (Table 3) reflect archetypal middle-class positions (e.g., sales,clerk, accountant, policeman, teacher, bank teller, journalist, etc.). These oc-cupational shifts shed light on: (a) differences in socioeconomic spaces andlivelihoods; (b) the most-preferred Brazilian immigrant occupations in theUnited States (i.e., Brazilians in the United States); and (c) the occupationalbackgrounds of those Brazilians who migrate (i.e., Brazilians in Brazil).

In the breakdown for each site (Table 2), the highest figures for most-preferred Brazilian immigrant occupations in Marietta were as follows: con-struction (20%), business owner (16%), housecleaning (12%), and, teacher(8%). In Framingham, the occupation of teacher was the highest (16%); fol-lowed by business owner, housecleaning, bank teller, and secretary (12%);and student and construction (8%). The high percentage for teachers inFramingham (16%), suggests the high demand for bilingual (Portuguese-English) teachers in that community. Framingham is one of the oldest placesof Brazilian immigrant destination in the United States, with a large secondand third-generation Brazilian demographic, which also helps to explainthis high demand. The occupation of housecleaning (i.e., the work done as



immigrants in the United States) was the highest among returnees in Piracan-juba (32%) and Governador Valadares (32%). Construction was the secondhighest in Piracanjuba (24%); and in Governador Valadares (20%). Therewere no business owners among returnees.

The occupation of construction (i.e., for work done in the United States)in Governador Valadares was about two and a half times (20%) higher thanin Framingham (8%), but the same as Marietta (20%). In Piracanjuba (24%),the occupation of construction was three times higher than construction inFramingham (8%). Figures for the occupation of housecleaning for returneesin Governador Valadares and Piracanjuba (32% for both), were over twoand a half times higher than figures for housecleaning in Framingham andMarietta (12% for both).

These differences in the four research sites suggest that migrants whoeventually returned to Brazil were not as driven to develop deeper interper-sonal networks outside of their own ethnic community while they lived in theUnited States, and hence were confined within their own ethnic space, andby extension, also confined to Brazilian immigrant market sectors and so-cial networks, such as housecleaning and construction. However, long-timeimmigrant residents have forged new social and religious networks outsidetheir own immigrant community, gaining access to other labor markets otherthan housecleaning and construction. This is particularly noticeable, for ex-ample, in Framingham (the oldest place of destination), as the occupationsof teacher, business owner, secretary, and bank teller were among the high-est, respectively. In addition, it is likely that housecleaning and constructionoccupations become increasingly saturated in Framingham, prompting manyolder immigrant residents to seek out other occupations, leaving houseclean-ing to newcomers. Conversely, since Marietta is still a relatively new placeof destination, with rampant new real estate developments and populationgrowth, the service sector may not have saturated yet and Brazilians are stillforging new interpersonal networks within the host community, which alsohelps to explain why construction and housecleaning are among the highestoccupations in that city.

In general, those who returned to Brazil already had included in theiroriginal migration strategy plan (before leaving Brazil) considerations ofworking in traditional Brazilian immigrant occupations, such as house-cleaning and construction, working 4 to 6 years in receiving communities,and eventually returning to Brazil. Indeed, all migrants had prior knowledgeof the demand for these service sectors in receiving communities beforearriving in the United States.

Occupations in Brazil (Brazilians in Brazil: prior to U.S. arrival; Table3) representing over 10% of responses in all four locations were as follows:sales and student (16%), and clerk (12%) were the highest among Brazil-ians in Marietta; in Framingham, the occupation of teacher was the highest(28%)which also helps to explain why the occupation teacher was also the


74 A. Marcus

highest in Framingham after migration occursfollowed by student (16%),business owner (12%) and clerk (12%). In Piracanjuba, the occupation ofstudent (high school and college-level) was the highest (12%). Finally, theoccupations of sales and clerk (16%) were the highest in Governador Val-adares, followed by retired (12%). The occupation of teacher was amongthe highest in all four locations. Qualitative interviews showed that the ma-jority of teachers interviewed conveyed a profound dissatisfaction with theoccupation of teaching in Brazil (e.g., in regards to salary, pension funds,

TABLE 4 Total of 1,200 Application Forms, Total Number and Percentage of Total: Occupa-tions Most Sought out by Brazilian Immigrant Women and Men in Framingham, 19992006

Male Occupations Total % Female Occupations Total %

Painting 134 22.3 Housecleaning 423 70.5Construction 77 12.8 Babysitter 35 5.8Any 59 9.8 Any 26 4.3Landscaping 56 9.3 Teacher 22 3.7Housecleaning 52 8.7 Store attendant 20 3.3Driver 52 8.7 Cook 10 1.7Carpentry 39 6.5 Seamstress 7 1.2Waiter 19 3.2 Nurse 7 1.2Store attendant 16 2.7 Student 7 1.2Cook 13 2.2 Manicure 7 1.2Mechanic 10 1.7 Hairdresser 6 1.0Dishwasher 10 1.7 Clerk 5 0.8Roofing 9 1.5 McDonalds 4 0.7Electrician 7 1.2 Bank teller 4 0.7Rural work 6 1.0 Restaurant 3 0.5Security guard 5 0.8 Accounting 2 0.3Bank teller 3 0.5 Nutritionist 2 0.3Engineer 3 0.5 Psychologist 2 0.3Sales 3 0.5 Dishwasher 2 0.3Butcher 3 0.5 Lawyer 1 0.2Clerk 2 0.3 Travel agent 1 0.2Student 2 0.3 Library work 1 0.2Factory work 2 0.3 Designer 1 0.2Photographer 2 0.3 Forest engineer 1 0.2Airplane pilot 2 0.3 Physical therapist 1 0.2College professor 2 0.3 Welder 2 0.3 McDonalds 2 0.3 Computers 2 0.3 Film maker 1 0.2 Accounting 1 0.2 Economist 1 0.2 Plumber 1 0.2 Tourism 1 0.2 Computer work 1 0.2 Total 600 100 Total 600 100

Source: Authors research results at Brazilian Center, Framingham.



retirement, etc.), which helps to explain why so many left Brazil, as repre-sented in this sample.

All immigrants (but one) were employed prior to leaving Brazil (Ta-ble 3). All occupations reflect archetypal middle to lower-middle socioeco-nomic backgrounds.

To complement and triangulate the previously evaluated primary re-search data, I also analyzed 1,200 job application forms filled out between1999 to 2006 by Brazilian immigrants, which are archived at a Brazilian im-migrant organization in Framingham (Table 4). This center is well-knownfor providing assistance and help for Brazilian newcomers who seek resi-dence and employment, and acts as a liaison between potential employersand those seeking jobs. Occupations such as: painting (22%), construction(13%), any (10%), landscaping (9%), housecleaning (9%), and driver (9%),predominate among the most sought out jobs for Brazilian men. Houseclean-ing was overwhelmingly the most sought-out occupation for women (71%),followed by babysitter (6%), any (4%) and teacher (4%). Service sector occu-pations, such as painting for men and housecleaning for women, were themost popularly sought out jobs in all application forms (Table 4).

These results strongly suggest that most applicants, who arrive at thecenter and select these desired sectors, have prior knowledge for their de-mand in receiving communities before their arrival in the United States.

Evaluations of U.S. Census 2000 figures (U.S. Census, 2000b) also pro-vide helpful and complementary sources to these reviews (Table 5). Thehighest figures for Brazilian immigrant occupations according to U.S. Census2000, were: service occupations (30.3%), followed by management, profes-sional, and related occupations (27.2%) and sales and office occupations(19.4%).

Most Brazilian immigrants (documented or undocumented, and whowork informally within construction sectors) are largely undercounted by

TABLE 5 U.S. Census 2000: Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics. Population Uni-verse: People Born in Brazil, Geographic Area: United States

% ofOccupations Total

Service occupations 30.3Management, professional, and related occupations 27.2Sales and office occupations 19.4Production, transportation, and material moving occupations 11.8Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations 11Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations 0.3Total 100

Source: U.S. Census 2000b. Table FBP-2. Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics: 2000. Pop-ulation Universe: People Born in Brazil. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/datatbls.html


76 A. Marcus

U.S. Census figures (Margolis, 1995). Nonetheless, despite its discrepancies,U.S. Census 2000 figures (Table 5) provide one dimension of the Brazilianimmigrant populationparticularly the authorized contingent. Brazilians arethe least represented in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (0.3%),driving the point that most Brazilian immigrants do not work in rural or agri-cultural occupations, unlike most Mexican and Central American immigrants.

CONCLUSION

This article has provided glimpses of new Brazilian immigrant ethniceconomies and of Brazilian immigrant socioeconomic spaces, livelihoods,and experiences. These glimpses illustrate new ethnic geographies of non-Spanish-speaking Latin Americans in the United States. Brazilians mostlywork in service sector occupations such as construction and housecleaningcommonly viewed by the host communities as typically Brazilian occupa-tions. By weaving though interview vignettes, along with primary and sec-ondary data, I have empirically evaluated ethnic economies in two countriesand transnational Brazilian migration processes at the microlevel.

Those who returned to Brazil had not been as driven to developstrong social networks outside of their own immigrant community spaceas those who remained in the United States. The restricting socioeconomicspace (i.e., abstract space) confined them to housecleaning and construc-tion occupations. However, those who remained in the United States de-veloped stronger local networks outside their own immigrant community,and by extension, they also gained additional access to other socioeconomicspaces and occupational opportunities (e.g., bank teller, teacher, or businessowner).

The contexts and conditions of migration processes are multidimen-sional and complex, and they are generated and sustained by interrelatedtransnational social and religious networksas illustrated earlier with an in-terview excerpt from Chico, the former pastor from Piracanjuba, now livingin Marietta.

Women tend to dominate the housecleaning sector and mentend to work in the construction sectors (i.e., construction, painting,landscaping)this statement is substantiated by combining evaluations ofU.S. Census data, primary survey results, as well as qualitative interviews.Hence, I was able to triangulate my results and better assess Brazilian ethniceconomies. Furthermore, interview excerpts from Leandro and Jucaras ex-periences, evaluated earlier, illuminate the subtleties of how both Brazilianimmigrant men and women experience ethnic economies and the migrationprocess differently.

Those who remain in the United States long to one day return to Brazil.Brazilians call this melancholic-type of longing saudades. Re-adaptation for



returnees in Brazil is generally difficult within family life, economic liveli-hoods, and there is a general sense of uprootedness. Some returnees goback to the United States again, for another 4 or 6-year period, with theintent to save enough money to eventually return to Brazil and purchase ahouse, an apartment, a car, or start a new business. Some returnees who stayin Brazil reminisce about the U.S. values and cultural norms, and wish to re-turn again but fear the process of living as an unauthorized immigrant in theUnited States. Some returnees are quite happy with their decision to remainin Brazil. For example, through Boscos interview excerpt discussed earlier,we learned how migration processes exacerbated his marital conflicts, andin the end, keeping his family was more important.

Brazilian immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy in various ways,generating an estimated US$4 billion in annual revenues (Lima & Siqueira,2008). Despite the significance of ethnic economies and financial exchanges,it is important not to calcify Brazilian immigration one dimensionally. Brazil-ian migration processes should not be measured (i.e., aggregate benefits)merely in economic terms, since other dimensions involve human costs,however, not discussed here (e.g., family fragmentation, high divorce rates,domestic violence, etc.). Nevertheless, migrants economic exchanges con-tribute conspicuously in the shaping of new transnational economies, af-fecting human geographies at the microlevel (e.g., livelihoods, experiences,remittances) in both sending and receiving communities.

NOTES

1. Receiving communities refers to places of destination, and sending communities refers toplaces of origin. Traditionally the term migrant is commonly used for internal migration in the literatureof migration studies, however, I use it here loosely in the context of international migration. I use theterm emigrant to refer to those Brazilians who are leaving Brazil, and, the term immigrant refers to thoseBrazilians who have arrived or who are already residing in the United States. I use the term returnee torefer to those Brazilian immigrants who have returned from the United States, and who now reside inBrazil. Whenever I use the term returnee, it will always be in the context of Brazilian immigrants whoreturned from the United States to Brazil.

2. Brazilian immigrants do not make only economic decisions when they decide to migrate, ratherthey make decisions based on multiple and interrelated reasons (noneconomic as well as economic),that are generated and sustained by social and religious networks (See Marcus, 2009a, on the role of thegeographical imagination in the migration process). For the purposes of this article, this statement willsuffice, and I have not discussed those other dimensions here.

3. Interviews with returnees in Brazil provided me with an entree into certain social circles uponmy return to receiving communities, as I also gained trust and rapport. First, they were more comfortableduring interviews to talk about sensitive areas of their immigrant experience (especially if undocumented)simply by virtue of being interviewed inside their home country without the imminent fear of beingarrested and deported, and would offer me detailed insights. Second, many returnees were friends orfamily members of my U.S. interviewees (which facilitated further generation of contacts and interviewsin receiving communities). Third, returnees were at a greater ease in providing sensitive informationabout financial earnings and real estate or money transfers. Fourth, returnees provided visible examplesof their financial success or lack thereof, by inviting me into their large newly-built houses or businesses(with money they had saved from U.S. remittances), or in the case of returnees who returned bankrupt,into their tiny rented apartments or homes, devoid of any furniture.


78 A. Marcus

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