May 20, 2005
By Stan Lehman Associated Press Writer
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Police in southeastern Brazil are trying to dismantle at least 30 gangs that are getting rich helping thousands of Brazilians illegally immigrate to the United States via Mexico, law enforcement officials said on Friday.
These gangs operate in and around the city of Governador Valadares, 750 kilometers (465 miles) northeast of Sao Paulo in the state of Minas Gerais.
"Each month, these gangs help at least 1,000 Brazilians cross into the United States from Mexico," Rui Silva, head of the Federal Police Department in Governador Valadares said by phone. "They (the gangs) are led by local politicians and businessmen who charge between US$10,000 and US$15,000 per person."
He said the gangs help potential immigrants obtain legitimate passports and air tickets and then send them by bus to Sao Paulo where they board planes to Mexico and "from where they will try to cross the border into California, Texas or Arizona," Silva said.
Acting on a tip, federal police on Thursday boarded a bus about to make the Governador Valadares-Sao Paulo trip.
Silva said that of the 28 passengers on the bus, 13 had passports and air tickets to Mexico.
"Some told us they were going to Mexico as tourists and others admitted they planned to cross the border," Silva said.
"We stopped the bus not to arrest anyone - because no crime had been committed - but to question the passengers for information that could lead us to the gangs," Silva said refusing to say if police obtained the information they were after.
"They were all law abiding citizens and as such we could not stop them from traveling," Silva said.
Governador Valadares has long been Brazil's main source of illegal immigrants to the United States.
According to Silva, this tradition dates back to World War II when American companies came to the region to extract mica, a mineral used in insulation and electrical equipment.
"After the war several Brazilians were invited by their employers to work in the United States and over the years, friends and relatives joined them."
But in the 1970 immigration laws started becoming more restrictive, while the "number of Brazilians hoping to improve their quality of life increased. This led many to resort to fake passports and visas to enter the United States."
"Now they have discovered the Mexican connection," Silva said. "They can enter Mexico easily and legally because no visa is required, but they do need help to cross the border and that is where these gangs come in."
Silva said police suspect many of these gangs have "accomplices" on both sides of the Mexican-U.S. border.
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