Urbanities,
Vol. 3
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No 2
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November 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
11
Others, such as those of Semitic origins, were viewed with distrust and encountered
difficulty entering Brazil. Nevertheless, they benefited from the stereotype that they were skilled
in commercial activities, which led to relaxed immigration controls. From this perspective, in
the period when the construction of national identity was chareged with 19th century pseudo-
scientific racist and evolutionary theories, the ‘ideal’ immigrant was seen as one who best served
the melting pot ideology, that is, one of Latin, white and Christian origin, such as the Spanish,
Portuguese and Italians (Seyferth 2001: 149).
Thus, Germans and Japanese were considered to be more difficult to be assimilated.
Although their immigration also relied on official support, they came to be seen by some
intellectuals and social groups as ‘ethnic blemishes’, that is, as possible threats to Brazil’s ethnic-
cultural integrity. Until the 1930s, the principle of assimilation was the selective criterion for
immigration to Brazil; even under the New State established by Getulio Vargas. Later, a more
economic principle gave priority to the professional qualifications of immigrant workers, but
with restrictions concerning their political participation.
These new preferences became normative under the military dictatorship with the
approval of the Foreigners Statute in 1980. The law made explicit the profile of workers to which
the country would give priority, that is, skilled labour capable of serving some sectors of the
national labour market. Since then, mainly for political reasons, in addition to being selective,
migratory policy also became xenophobic. Hispanic-Americans who were escaping the violence
of regional dictatorships and the lack of opportunities in their countries of origin (Silva 1997,
2008b) were especially suspect. From this perspective, although ‘political refugees’ were also
migrant labourers, they represented a possible threat to National Security.
If, on one hand, there was an influx of skilled immigrants, on the other, there was also a
growing demand for less skilled labour to serve sectors of the labour market, served by
subcontrators such as clothing manufacturers in São Paulo (Silva 1997). Thus, immigrants, who
in principle did not meet the legal requirements, entered the country and remained after their
tourist visas had expired as undocumented aliens. To alleviate this situation, and respond to
pressure from non-governmental organizations, the Brazilian government has taken palliative
measures such as the amnesties granted every ten years to undocumented migrants since the
1980s. During the last amnesty, in 2009, according to data from the Federal Police, of the 45
thousand requests for residency, only 18 thousand were granted by the Brazilian government.
The others were refused because they could not prove their employment ties in the country.
Within Mercosur
5
the advances have been more significant, as some bilateral agreements
on migratory regulation have already been signed by the member countries, including the right
for citizens with formal employment contracts to freely reside anywhere within the Mercosul.
5
Created by the Asunción Treaty in 1991, it originally included the four countries of Brazil, Argentina,
Paraguay and Uruguay. In 1996, Bolivia and Chile gained associate status, in 2003, Peru, in 2004,
Colombia and Ecuador. In 2012, Venezuela was accepted as an effective member.
