Brazilian Immigration To The United States And The Geographical Imagination*

Abstract

ABSTRACT. In the late 1980s more than 1 million Brazilians left Brazil without returning. Today an estimated 2 million Brazilians live abroad, 1.2 million of them in the United States. In this article I show that Brazilians migrate for a variety of reasons, including the geographical imagination. Why are so many Brazilians leaving for the United States? What are their geographical imaginations, and how are they described in their migration process? Using primary and secondary data and multiple methods, I address these questions by providing insights into Brazilian migrants' place perceptions, experiences, and reasons for migrating, focusing on the geographical imagination. Those migrants who end up returning to Brazil are more likely to cite financial and curiosity reasons for having migrated. A web of transnational religious and social networks sustains those immigrants who remain in the United States. Reasons for migrating are not economic alone; rather, they are based on interrelated and complex factors that range from adventure to curiosity, the cultural influence of the United States, family members, education, and escape.