Inspired by the guy killed in London, an interesting review of the boom in Brazilian emigration:

• “ The number of Brazilians captured on the U.S.-Mexico border — 27,000 from October to July, nearly triple the previous year — illustrates the trend. Brazil’s government estimates half the 1.5 million Brazilians in the United States are there illegally.”
• “Ground zero for smugglers is Governador Valadares, a city of 250,000 just 50 miles from Gonzaga, where federal police issue the passports allowing immigrants to enter Mexico, which lifted a visa requirement for Brazilians in 2002.”
• “Governador Valadares Mayor Jose Mourao estimates 40,000 residents from his city alone have lived abroad. Ninety percent return, he said, and entire neighborhoods have sprung up from foreign currency.”

I’m amazed at the percentage of people who return.