Bolsonaro Says United States Has Right to Deport Illegal Brazilians

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said this Saturday in New Delhi, India, where he is on an official visit, that it is the “right” of the United States to deport Brazilians who entered the country illegally.

In the early hours of this Saturday, a plane arrived in Belo Horizonte from El Paso, Texas, with 50 deported Brazilians. In October last year, another plane from the United States brought 70 deportees.

The Bolsonaro government has facilitated the deportation of citizens living irregularly in the United States, which represents a change from the policy of previous governments.

The president said he regrets that Brazilians seeking “new opportunities out there” are returning deportees.

“Any country, its laws must be respected. Any country in the world where people are there illegally, is a right of that head of state, using the laws, to return those nationals,” he said.

Asked if he could help the U.S. government identify people to be deported, he criticized Brazilian immigration law.

“If you read our immigration law, no country in the world has what we have there. It’s a disgrace. I was the only one to vote against it [when it was voted on], it was symbolic, the only one to speak against it. I was very criticized by the media. The foreigner arrives in Brazil with more rights than we do. So that can’t happen. After all, we must preserve our country. If you open the doors, the country can receive a very large flow of people,” he said.