Brazucas

Interesting story by Joel Millman in today's Wall Street Journal (I don't have a link), discussing how a better economy in developing countries, plus a more integrated world economy (featuring more relaxed visa policies elsewhere in the world), promotes emigration to the USA, instead of discouraging it. Case in point: the rapidly growing population of 'Brazucas' crossing across the Mexican border into the U.S. It's getting easier all the time for Brazilians to take a shot at entering the U.S.:

Brazilians being held here in El Centro at the U.S. immigration prison say they can get to the U.S. for as little as $1,500 - the price of a cheap ticket to Mexico City and bus fare to the border. Others insist they can travel all the way to Boston for no money down; they don't have to pay until smugglers get them to their destination.

Edjalma Andrade de Oliveira, a 36-year-old taxi driver from the town of Teixeira de Freitas in Brazil's Bahia state, says he traveled on credit when he left home in November. He says he wanted "to maximize my work opportunities" by leaving Brazil, and expected to land a job as a janitor once he reached the U.S.