{"id":572785,"date":"2026-01-21T15:09:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=572785"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:11:07","slug":"changes-in-brazils-immigration-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/changes-in-brazils-immigration-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes in Brazil\u2019s immigration profile"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the 1960s through the early 2000s, most immigrants arriving in Brazil came from the Global North\u2014Portuguese, Americans, and other relatively affluent groups. Few relied on the national healthcare system (SUS) or public schools, opting instead for private services. This was a very different picture from today, when most immigrants in Brazil face vulnerable living conditions. A new edition of Atlas tem\u00e1tico<\/em> (Thematic atlas), published this year by the University of Campinas Center for Population Studies (NEPO-UNICAMP), reveals that about 415,000 immigrants are listed in Brazil\u2019s Unified Registry for Social Programs (Cad\u00danico)\u2014the federal database used to identify low-income households.<\/p>\n

See more:<\/strong>
\n– Brazil’s new position on the international migration map<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cWe found a significant number of immigrants living in vulnerable conditions across Brazil,\u201d explains demographer Rosana Baeninger, the study\u2019s lead researcher. She notes that although Brazil\u2019s immigration laws are relatively progressive, the lack of coordination among federal, state, and municipal levels\u2014due to the absence of a unified, national migration policy\u2014leaves local governments responding in piecemeal, often emergency-driven ways.<\/p>\n

Out of Brazil\u2019s 5,570 cities, just 230 have implemented any formal policy addressing the needs of foreign residents. Among them is S\u00e3o Paulo, home to roughly half a million registered immigrants\u2014mostly from Bolivia, Venezuela, and Angola. In 2016, the city passed Law No. 16,478, which established S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Municipal Policy on Immigrants and created the Oriana Jara Immigrant Referral and Assistance Center (CRAI).<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves\u2009\/ Pesquisa FAPESP <\/span>A visitor seeking information at S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Oriana Jara Immigrant Referral and Assistance CenterL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves\u2009\/ Pesquisa FAPESP <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Between 2020 and 2025, CRAI provided assistance to more than 46,700 people. Its main office in the Bela Vista district\u2014one of central S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s busiest neighborhoods\u2014provides services to immigrants from Bolivia, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Angola, Senegal, Nigeria, Syria, and other countries. \u201cPeople come seeking help with everything from immigration paperwork and school access to legal and psychological counseling,\u201d explains Grevisse Mulamba Kalala, a Congolese management assistant at the center. \u201cWe assist people from over a hundred nationalities, many of them vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among those seeking help at CRAI, Colombian psychologist Ana Le\u00f3n, from S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Municipal Office for Human Rights and Citizenship, notes a growing stream of unaccompanied children arriving at the center. \u201cIn 2025 alone, we assisted 18 unaccompanied children,\u201d says Le\u00f3n, who has been living in Brazil for 12 years. Le\u00f3n notes that many of these cases are complex, citing, for example, a teenage mother who crossed borders carrying her baby.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that case is far from unique,\u201d she adds. According to the 10th<\/sup> edition of Ref\u00fagio em n\u00fameros<\/em> (Refugees by the numbers), 14,000 asylum requests were filed in the past year on behalf of children under age 15\u2014an unusually high number. In total, the federal government received 68,000 applications for refugee status during that same period (see chart on page 20<\/em>). This marks the third-highest number of asylum requests in Brazil\u2019s history, exceeded only in 2018 and 2019. Released in 2025, the report is produced by Brazil\u2019s National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) in collaboration with the International Migration Observatory (OBMigra)\u2014a collaboration between the University of Bras\u00edlia (UnB) and Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP).<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n \n \n \n <\/picture>Alexandre Affonso\/Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/div>
\n

Kalala, who has lived in Brazil for 11 years, is one of several immigrant staff members employed at CRAI. He immigrated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to join relatives who had already settled in S\u00e3o Paulo. A computer engineer by training, Kalala speaks seven languages, among them Swahili, French, English, and Spanish. Like Le\u00f3n, Kalala says his biggest challenges in Brazil are limited access to higher education and the bureaucratic barriers to validating foreign diplomas. Le\u00f3n waited three years for her degree to be recognized; Kalala, meanwhile, is still waiting to have his diploma validated. The process, he explains, is costly and requires original documents that can only be obtained in person from the immigrant\u2019s home country. \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s often easier to start over and get a new degree than to have your existing one recognized in Brazil,\u201d he says with frustration.<\/p>\n

Historian Ana Carolina de Moura Delfim Maciel, who holds the S\u00e9rgio Vieira de Mello Chair\u2014a program run jointly by UNICAMP and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)\u2014notes that some Brazilian universities have special admission policies for refugees and people at risk. According to a report from the Chair, as of 2020, 13 Brazilian universities, including UNICAMP, had adopted inclusive admission policies for refugees. \u201cIn 2025, the university\u2019s special admissions program for refugees received over 300 applications from students coming from Ukraine, Syria, Colombia, Venezuela, Angola, Cuba, Ghana, and Iran,\u201d says Maciel.<\/p>\n

In collaboration with French anthropologist Michel Agier of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris, Maciel is currently working on a documentary scheduled for release in 2025. The film is part of a FAPESP-funded research project exploring the life trajectories of refugees. \u201cOur project combines academic research and hands-on training,\u201d Maciel explains. \u201cWe distributed cameras to 14 refugees from Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, living in Brazil and France, so they could record their own stories. This is an opportunity for them to document their experiences. Personal stories are often one of the only possessions people take with them when they flee their home countries. We want to give visibility to those voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

In S\u00e3o Paulo, a lack of awareness about legal rights\u2014combined with widespread prejudice\u2014is another issue facing immigrants. To better understand the problem, sociologist Jaciane Pimentel Milanezi Reinehr, from the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), carried out a FAPESP-funded study on Haitian immigrant women\u2019s access to Brazil\u2019s public healthcare system. Her fieldwork, carried out at a primary healthcare unit (UBS), revealed that Haitian women were frequently stigmatized by healthcare providers. \u201cTheir behavior\u2014or simply their unfamiliarity with how Brazil\u2019s public services function\u2014was often criticized by health professionals,\u201d Reinehr explains.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Jameson Vinicius Martins da Silva, in his FAPESP-funded PhD research at USP\u2019s School of Public Health, found that many immigrants struggle to access healthcare due to language, cultural, and bureaucratic barriers\u2014and, at times, discrimination from healthcare professionals. \u201cOn the other hand,\u201d says Silva, who defended his dissertation in 2024, \u201csome healthcare centers in S\u00e3o Paulo have become accustomed to serving immigrant communities and have developed inclusive practices. But this is far from the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Paulo Pinto\u2009\/\u2009Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/span>A local shelter in S\u00e3o Paulo began receiving Afghan refugees in 2024Paulo Pinto\u2009\/\u2009Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to S\u00e3o Paulo, another city with dedicated policies for immigrants is Corumb\u00e1, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Developed in collaboration with the Frontier Observatory for International Migration (MIGRAFRON) at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), a 2022 resolution by Corumb\u00e1\u2019s Municipal Education Council established guidelines for enrolling migrant, refugee, stateless, and asylum-seeking children, adolescents, and adults in the city\u2019s public schools.<\/p>\n

Another core component of Corumb\u00e1\u2019s immigrant program is Casa do Migrante, a facility run by the city\u2019s social assistance service that welcomes migrants regardless of their legal status. In 2024, the center provided service to 2,000 immigrants, according to Patr\u00edcia Teixeira Tavano, a professor and coordinator of the MIGRAFRON research group. \u201cIn addition to housing,\u201d Tavano explains, \u201cwe provide meals, support with documentation, and referrals to healthcare and social services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Situated along Brazil\u2019s border with Paraguay and Bolivia, Corumb\u00e1 is home to residents from 28 nationalities\u2014mostly Bolivians, but also Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Haitians, and Palestinians. \u201cIts strategic border location makes Corumb\u00e1 a major gateway for overland immigrants to Brazil,\u201d Tavano notes.<\/p>\n

She adds that, beyond those who settle permanently, many Bolivians cross the border daily to work, attend school, or access healthcare in Brazil\u2014then return home each evening. Cross-border traffic also moves the other way: Brazilians frequently travel to Bolivia to shop or enroll in universities, particularly in medical programs.<\/p>\n

Like Corumb\u00e1, the city of Dourados, also in Mato Grosso do Sul, lies close to the Bolivian and Paraguayan borders. Hermes Moreira Junior, who runs the S\u00e9rgio Vieira de Mello Chair at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), notes that Indigenous communities from multiple ethnic groups regularly cross these border regions, often without any formal identification documents.<\/p>\n

Data from Mato Grosso do Sul\u2019s Public Defender\u2019s Office show that over 200 Indigenous people cross the borders separating Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay every day\u2014without formal registration. \u201cThis legal invisibility leaves them extremely vulnerable, cutting them off from even their most basic rights,\u201d explains Hermes Moreira Junior. \u201cAnd many don\u2019t speak Portuguese,\u201d adds Juliana Tomiko Ribeiro Aizawa, a legal scholar who heads the Mobility, Integration, and Human Rights Research Group at UFGD.<\/p>\n

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Marcelo Camargo \/ Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/span>Venezuelan immigrants in Boa Vista city (RR), in 2018, in search of housing and employmentMarcelo Camargo \/ Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Moreira Junior and Aizawa recounted the story of Inocente Arevalo Orellana in a paper published last year. Born in Bolivia in 1979, Orellana hitched a ride on a truck and crossed into Brazil in 2008, reaching Dourados with no official identification or civil records. Because of a psychiatric condition, he spent several weeks living on the streets before being taken in by a religious charity organization.<\/p>\n

For over four decades, Orellana lived as a stateless person\u2014someone not recognized as a national by any country. \u201cHe had no civil registration or official documents whatsoever\u2014only a baptism certificate,\u201d recalls Aizawa. \u201cIn Brazil,\u201d she adds, \u201che couldn\u2019t even obtain a medical diagnosis or treatment, since he lacked the documents required to access the SUS like a regular citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September 2023, Moreira Junior initiated the formal process to have Orellana officially recognized as stateless\u2014a case that had been ongoing for nearly a decade. Orellana could not be identified as Bolivian, since there was no official record confirming his place of birth. The initiative involved a joint effort between Brazil\u2019s Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office, Federal Police, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), working in coordination with Bolivian institutions\u2014including the Plurinational Consulate of Bolivia in Corumb\u00e1.<\/p>\n

Orellana\u2019s stateless status was officially recognized at the end of 2023. According to Aizawa, the process took so long partly because Orellana had no formal documents and partly because his mental health issues made communication with authorities extremely difficult. Another factor was the unprecedented nature of the case\u2014Orellana became the first person in Mato Grosso do Sul ever to be officially recognized as stateless by the Brazilian government. Since then, two additional cases of statelessness in the state have also been successfully resolved.<\/p>\n

The story above was published with the title “The changing face of immigration in Brazil<\/strong>” in issue 355 of September\/2025.<\/p>\n

Projects<\/strong>
\n1.<\/strong> Cities of rights: Health policies for international migrants in the cities of S\u00e3o Paulo (Brazil) and Barcelona (Spain) (n\u00b0 18\/22974-0<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Doctoral Fellowship; Supervisor<\/strong> Deisy de Freitas Lima Ventura (USP); Beneficiary<\/strong> Jameson Vin\u00edcius Martins da Silva; Investment<\/strong> R$230,082.84.
\n2.<\/strong> Trajectories without borders: Memory and trauma of refugees in the contemporary world (n\u00b0 23\/16222-4<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Regular Research Grant; Principal Investigator<\/strong> Ana Carolina de Moura Delfim Maciel (UNICAMP); Investment<\/strong> R$205,430.65.
\n3.<\/strong> Race and health in transit: Health governance of international migrants in the Metropolitan Region of S\u00e3o Paulo (n\u00b0 19\/13877-4<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Postdoctoral Fellowship; Supervisor<\/strong> Marcia Regina de Lima Silva (CEBRAP); Beneficiary<\/strong> Jaciane Pimentel Milanezi Reinehr; Investment<\/strong> R$649,615.40.<\/p>\n

Scientific articles<\/strong>
\nAIZAWA, J. T. R. & JUNIOR, H. M. Fronteiras marginais e o primeiro ap\u00e1trida de Mato Grosso do Sul. Bras\u00edlia, DF, Instituto de Pesquisa Econ\u00f4mica Aplicada (Ipea). Revista Tempo do Mundo<\/strong>. No. 35. 2025.
\nCHALCRAFT, J. & HIKIJI, R. S. G. Imagens que atravessam. Di\u00e1spora africana em performance. Artelogie<\/strong>. No. 16. 2021.
\nHILIJI, R. S. G. & CHALCRAFT, J. Gringos, n\u00f4mades, pretos \u2013 pol\u00edticas do musicar africano em S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a>. Revista de Antropologia<\/strong>. Vol. 5, no. 2. 2022.
\nMILANEZI, J. Distin\u00e7\u00f5es, media\u00e7\u00f5es excludentes e desigualdades: A governan\u00e7a da sa\u00fade reprodutiva de \u201ccadastradas dif\u00edceis\u201d<\/a>. Dados \u2012 Revista de Ci\u00eancias Sociais<\/strong>, 67 (2). 2024.
\nMILANEZI, J. \u201cO problema \u00e9 cultural: Estigmas, comportamentos e vigil\u00e2ncias reprodutivas de mulheres haitianas.\u201d In: REIS, Elaine et al<\/em>. (eds.). Justi\u00e7a reprodutiva: Desafios interseccionais na sa\u00fade coletiva<\/strong>. Rio de Janeiro: Fiocruz. 2025.<\/p>\n

Books<\/strong>
\nBAENINGER, R. et al<\/em>. (eds.). Atlas tem\u00e1tico: Observat\u00f3rio da emigra\u00e7\u00e3o brasileira \u2013 Observat\u00f3rio das migra\u00e7\u00f5es dos pa\u00edses de l\u00edngua portuguesa \u2012 Migra\u00e7\u00f5es internacionais<\/strong><\/a>. Vol. 3. Campinas: N\u00facleo de Estudos de Popula\u00e7\u00e3o Elza Berqu\u00f3 da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Nepo-Unicamp). 2025.
\nHIKIJI, R. S. G. Filmar o musicar: Ensaios de antropologia compartilhada<\/strong><\/a>. S\u00e3o Paulo: FFLCH\/USP. 2025.
\nMAGALH\u00c3ES, L. F. A. et al.<\/em> (eds). Migra\u00e7\u00f5es e ref\u00fagio: Temas emergentes no Brasil<\/strong><\/a>. Campinas: N\u00facleo de Estudos de Popula\u00e7\u00e3o Elza Berqu\u00f3 da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Nepo-Unicamp). 2024.<\/p>\n

Report<\/strong>
\nJUNGER, G. et al.<\/em> Ref\u00fagio em n\u00fameros 10\u00aa edi\u00e7\u00e3o<\/strong><\/a>. Brasilia, DF. Observat\u00f3rio das Migra\u00e7\u00f5es Internacionais; Minist\u00e9rio da Justi\u00e7a e Seguran\u00e7a P\u00fablica \/ Departamento das Migra\u00e7\u00f5es. 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some 415,000 foreigners are registered on social programs and rely on poorly structured public services to survive","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":572743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,165],"tags":[222],"coauthors":[1600],"class_list":["post-572785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover","category-humanities","tag-demography"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572785"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577149,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572785\/revisions\/577149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572785"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=572785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}