Seventy immigrants, deported from the United States, traveled back to Brazil on a charter flight by a US agency, and disembarked at Belo Horizonte International Airport, in Confins, early on Saturday (26). The group remained in jail for a month in the city of El Paso and, according to "The Globe", among the immigrants is a 1-year-old baby.
Each of these people will be heard by the Federal Police in an investigation into the illegal immigration scheme in Minas Gerais. The corporation has not yet indicated when these statements will be taken, and staff working at the airport's information terminal are not allowed to report whether immigrants were immediately released after landing or if they had to undergo legal proceedings.
The flight that brought them back to Brazil was chartered by the US federal agency responsible for immigration and customs. In addition to the crew, a police officer, 20 security guards and a nurse supervised the trip.
Prison
The Brazilians allegedly tried to remain illegally in that country, according to the Federal Police, reporting to border inspectors with the expectation of responding to a free administrative proceeding. According to the corporation, older immigrants would have used children, or even impersonated minors, to facilitate entry and stay in US territory.
However, laws against illegal immigration have become stricter in the country under the Donald Trump government and have excluded the possibility of such a long-term trial. In addition, Brazil struck a deal with Washington in July this year to accelerate the deportation of Brazilians without a passport or who were undocumented in the country.
Family members of these Brazilians detained in El Paso until deportation on Friday (25) told O Globo that, in addition to the precarious human conditions facing immigrants in jail in the Texas city - including restrictions on bathing, US authorities refused to pass information about the detainees.
Convicted of murder among deportees
Convicted of a qualified murder 19 years ago in Governador Valadares, Rio Doce, a 48-year-old man is among the deportees who arrived in Confins at dawn. As on Interpol's red list after landing, it was arrested by the Federal Police.
According to the corporation, after being sentenced to six years in prison for murder in his city, the man fled to the United States. Recently, he would still have tried to kill a Brazilian couple in Florida.
