By Marcony Almeida, The Brazilian Journal/New America Media

One of the most exciting times in Claudete Alcântara’s week used to be when she went to school to learn English. A Brazilian immigrant, Alcântara counted on an English literacy program in Everett, a city in northern Massachusetts, to learn the language and to improve her job prospects.

But her excitement faded when the program announced that her classes would come to an end because of cuts in the state and municipal budget. The Everett Literacy Program –in its 25th year providing English for Students of Other Languages (ESOL)– receives funding from the state, the city and private donations. It is one of the largest ESOL programs for immigrant adults in the state.

Claudete Alcântara

Alcântara came to the United States nine years ago and since then has been working in the kitchen of a famous restaurant in downtown Boston. Her manager promised to make her the restaurant manager once she could speak English fluently.

“I love what I do but I get shy and disturbed when my co-workers ask me to repeat a word that I did not pronounce correctly”, she said. “I do a better job than many Americans here, but my English skills prevent me from having a better position at the restaurant. I’m studying hard to get there.”

Brazilian immigrants represent 20 percent of new residents in the Commonwealth since 2000, according to the think-tank MassINC, and Everett is home to one of the largest concentrations of Brazilians in the state. The city has about 40,000 residents and at least 22 percent of its population is foreign born – almost double the percentage in the rest of the state.

But the good days for Alcântara have returned. The Everett Literacy Program has received a grant of $50,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and she is one of 54 students who have now returned to class.

“When we got the news that we would be able to bring those 54 students and rehire teacher thanks to this grant, it was like an unexpected miracle happening,” said Meg English, the program’s coordinator. The money was granted to the program through Tri-Cap, the Tri-City Community Action Program, a multi-service anti-poverty agency serving the cities of Malden, Medford, Everett and surrounding communities.

The grant was a relief to a literacy program that has been striving to teach English to immigrants for years. Applying for state, private and federal grants is English’s main strategy to keep her program alive. In the past, the student wait list approached 500, but it has declined to 310. She suspects this is due to a recent wave of immigrants moving back to their home country and to long waits that discourage people.

“The Recovery grant could not eliminate our wait list, but at least it helped not to increase the numbers and to keep two classes running that otherwise we would have to shut down,” said English.

President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on February 17, 2009. In anticipation of a national recovery effort, Gov. Deval Patrick began preparing Massachusetts to receive an infusion of funds in December 2009. He created Federal Stimulus Mobilization Task Forces, led by Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, to identify infrastructure needs.

Statewide, 16,935 immigrant adults are on the wait list to learn English. Claudia Green, director of Workforce Development and English For New Bostonians Initiative, a project launched by the city of Boston to help newcomers learn English, says that few cities across the state with a large concentration of immigrants have received grants from ARRA for their ESOL programs, but the wait list remains static because these grants were only able to keep current programs running and curb the increase of students on the wait list.

“It’s great when you receive a grant to eliminate the wait list,” said Green, “but even when these resources help to save current programs from being eliminated –or at least not increase the number of people waiting for classes – it’s a good thing, too.”

In Everett, the public school system also benefited from stimulus money, and was able to save teachers’ jobs and avoid charging fees to students with some of the $3.7 million stimulus funds the Department of Education received. “Thanks to the stimulus, this year school lunches will continue to be offered in all schools at all grade levels for students. There will be no fees for students who want to participate in any activity in the Everett Public Schools. Our special needs programs remain intact and in place, including transportation, and 20 teachers were saved from layoffs,” said superintendent Frederick F. Foresteire.

The governor claimed that ARRA funding has created or retained 23,533 jobs in Massachusetts since the start of the 27-month program in February. Based on data submitted to the federal government, Massachusetts state agencies received approximately $4 billion in recovery money through September 30, 2009. Of these funds, state agencies have already invested nearly $1.9 billion, including $1.3 billion in direct benefits, such as unemployment insurance and Medicaid, and over $500 million on other programs and infrastructure projects to create or retain jobs and fund essential services.

However, recent reports in the Boston Globe state that only a fraction of federal stimulus money has been spent so far. Massachusetts organizations have been awarded $3.9 billion in stimulus contracts, loans, and grants. But as of October, Bay State government agencies and companies had received only $622 million and have spent almost all of it, according to data from the government agency charged with tracking stimulus funding. The findings could explain why unemployment continued to climb in the state, hitting 9.3 percent in September.

“Most of the money has not yet been used in a way that could create or save jobs,’’ said Michael Balsam of Onvia Inc., a Seattle company that tracks government contracts. Nationwide, Balsam estimated, only one quarter of stimulus money has “actually left Washington, D.C.’’ But Massachusetts officials told the Globe that the slow pace of funding is due partly to applicants having to win competitive grants, which is a time-consuming process.

And even after winning a stimulus award, state officials noted, there are other chores that have to be done before the money can be spent. These include deciding what projects to fund, putting contracts out to bid and complying with other regulations needed to obtain the money.

Massachusetts has spent $508 million of the $1.9 billion handled through state agencies that has been awarded. But state officials acknowledge that the bulk of the jobs figures they reported to the U.S. government were estimates, rather than exact tallies. For instance, the state estimated it saved nearly 6,000 jobs by disbursing $412 million in education grants to local school districts to offset cuts in state aid. But instead of tracking payments to individual employees, the state asked school districts what portion of the money was used for salaries, then calculated how many jobs that money would support based on a statewide average salary for teachers.

Regardless of the delay, Foresteire and English believe that the stimulus has prevented an even worse nightmare due to the economic downturn that has also affected their programs.

“My concern now is what is next after the stimulus money is over,” said English. “I guess I need to find other alternatives and hope for a better economic recovery.”

Angela walked into her daughter’s office to find 18-year-old Rocio on the floor, her childlike face swollen beyond recognition. Rocio’s boyfriend was kneeling beside her, the blood dripping from his arms onto her motionless body. The couple’s baby daughter wailed in the corner.

Angela screamed at the top of her lungs, summoning Rocio back to life. “Don’t leave, don’t leave, your daughter needs you!” she yelled. A barely noticeable blink of an eye gave Angela hope that she had come just in time.

The waiting room at St. Brigid's Church in Brooklyn where immigrants come for help with problems including domestic violence. (Photo: Jelena Kopanja)

On the day that Angela came to see Msgr. James Kelly seeking help for her daughter the waiting room at St. Brigid’s Church in Brooklyn was packed, mostly with women. Kelly is a priest and an attorney, and his parishioners – many of them immigrants from Latin America – often come to him for legal advice as well as comfort.

He sees about four to five domestic violence related cases every day. While he often tries to refer them to community-based organizations, many of the victims are more comfortable talking about their problems in the church. He often addresses domestic violence in his sermons.

Domestic violence is a sensitive topic in any community, but immigrants face added challenges, say activists who work with these groups.

The role of faith

Faith can be a challenge but also a great source of strength, says Purvi Shah, the executive director of Sakhi, an organization that works with South Asian women. “For immigrants, faith-based institutions are very important because they can be your link not only to faith but also to the rest of the community,” says Shah. Involving religious leaders is a way to raise support for ending domestic violence.

But shame over what is often seen as “airing the dirty laundry in public” may prevent many women from speaking out, says Indira Kajosevic, the executive officer of Reconciliation and Culture Cooperative Network, or Racoon.

A report published earlier this year by Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) found that in the context of what could be a hostile and discriminatory environment, there is tremendous pressure to “maintain a positive image of [the] community.” In other words, acknowledging domestic violence can be seen as detrimental to collective survival.

The few statistics available suggest that domestic violence is no more prevalent among immigrants than it is among the non-immigrant population. But foreign-born women are more likely to be victims of homicide related to domestic violence.

A study by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found that 51 percent of domestic violence-related murder victims were foreign-born females, while 45 percent were women born in the United States. The higher numbers point to the “failure and/or inadequate response by existing systems and institutions, such as law enforcement and the courts,” the FVPF report suggests.

Immigration status creates difficult choices for victims

Immigration status can be an especially difficult challenge for many victims. Approximately one fourth of Raccoon’s cases are undocumented migrants. An abusive husband can often use threats of deportation to keep his spouse in silence.

On the other hand, some women may be reluctant to report their undocumented spouses, fearing that their arrest will lead to deportation. For families that rely on a husband’s income for survival, this can be devastating.

Protections under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) allow some women married to U.S. citizens or permanent residents to self-petition for residency. Others married to undocumented migrants may qualify for a U-visa if they’ve suffered “substantial physical or mental” abuse as a result of a specific form of criminal activity.

Rocio, who was born in Ecuador but has been living in the United States since she was three years old, may qualify for this visa. Her mother Angela, who like her daughter is undocumented, hopes that with legal status Rocio may be able to pursue her dream of becoming a midwife. Her daughter’s freedom from abuse, says Angela, came at great expense, but she needs to use it to build a better life for herself and her small child.

The process of obtaining legal status can be lengthy and complicated. The victims are sometimes stigmatized. “The couple of cases that got VAWA were made as a bad example in the community – these women put their husbands in prison,” says Racoon’s Kajosevic who works with immigrants and refugees from the former Yugoslavia.

“Do you think that goes over well in small communities?” she asks.

While abuse may begin in the home country, immigration is a traumatic event that can trigger violence. “Economic hardship is one of the stress factors,” Kajosevic said. Women are often more resourceful in finding a job. The role reversal can lead men to feeling helpless and trying to reassert their masculinity through violence. In former Yugoslav communities, alcoholism is also a significant, and contributing, problem.

Dr. Percy Andreazi works with men in Massachusetts’ large Brazilian immigrant community who are struggling with the stresses of immigration and may be at risk of committing acts of domestic violence. He started the intervention program after the brutal murder of 37-year-old Carla Souza and her 11-year-old son Caique in 2006. Mother and son were bludgeoned to death by Carla’s Brazilian-immigrant husband Jeremias Bins. The double homicide was a wake-up call for many Brazilian immigrants.

“The only good outcome of that is that we started to discuss this issue in the community,” says Andreazi. “We started to discuss the roots of violence and for example how the shock of immigration, the cultural shock and the difference between men and women when they come here,” may contribute to violence.

Andreazi says women are often more adaptable and get involved with their new community soon upon arrival. Men are not as communicative and can find themselves isolated.

Male allies are important to Sakhi’s work as well. Out of 731 new requests for assistance the organization received last year, 13 percent came from men calling for themselves or out of concern for their sisters, daughters or women friends in abusive relationships.

Both Rocio and Angela will need time to overcome their shared fears of shadows. Even though he is in prison, Rocio’s boyfriend is a constant presence in their lives, his image lurking around every corner, in the branches of the tree outside of their house.

Angela knows these are irrational thoughts, and while she tries to reassure Rocio, she herself need reassurance. She is hopeful that one day they will regain their lives. They have to – if for no other reason, then for the sake of her granddaughter. “Mi reina,” my queen, she says, her solemn face brightening as she brandishes a cell phone with the little girl’s photo.

Feet in 2 Worlds’ John Rudolph contributed reporting for this story.

David and Sean Goldman. (Photo: BringSeanHome.org)

After nearly five years of an international custody battle that has drawn the attention of the Obama administration and members of Congress, American model David Goldman flew to Brazil a few days ago to finally be reunited with his son Sean.

On Monday, June 1, Brazilian federal judge Rafael de Souza Pereira Pinto, of Rio de Janeiro, ruled that Sean should be handed to the local American Consulate in 48 hours. In an 82-page ruling, the judge also determined that Sean could travel to New Jersey accompanied by his Brazilian relatives.

Once in U.S., the judge determined, in the first two weeks Sean would spend days with the Brazilian part of his family, and nights with Goldman. After that period, the 9-year-old boy, whose Brazilian mother died while giving birth to a baby girl last September, would stay with his father indefinitely.

But that ruling lasted less than 24 hours.

On Tuesday evening, Minister Marco Aurélio de Mello, one of Brazil’s 11 Supreme Court justices, used a hand-written legal embargo to suspend the boy’s return to the U.S.

The minister’s decision was based on the grounds that Judge Pinto’s decision went against the Brazilian Constitution, and that it could cause psychological harm to the boy.

Brazil is a signatory of the Hague Convention, an international treaty that provides that any child taken away from his or her habitual residence without the express consent of both parents should be returned within 6 weeks. Sean has been in Brazil for 4 years and 11 months after his mother decided to stay there during what was supposed to be a short visit, then divorced Goldman and married a Brazilian lawyer. She died last year of complications during the birth of a daughter.

“He is smarter than I was at 9-years old. He manifested the will to stay in Brazil. For someone who remained here for 5 years, what are some days or weeks?” Mello told Brazilian reporters today.

Judge Pinto’s said in his ruling that Sean Goldman had responded to government officials that “it doesn’t matter” when asked if he wanted to stay in Rio or move back to New Jersey.

“It was only when in the presence of a representative from the Brazilian family that the boy said he wanted to stay in Brazil,” Pinto’s decision said.

Some Brazilian immigrants in the U.S. expressed displeasure with the Supreme Court ruling.

“It’s exactly because of the influence rich people have on our judicial system that I moved to the U.S.,” said one unidentified listener on Framingham, Massachusetts station WSRO, 650AM.

The Brazilian family claims that Sean Goldman is a “Brazilian natural citizen,” because he was registered at the Brazilian Consulate of New York. However, the Brazilian Constitution only considers children born to military or diplomatic families –parents serving Brazil’s interest abroad– to be citizens of Brazil born in a foreign land.

Goldman was a model, worked in real estate and also drove a boat. Sean’s mother, Bruna Bianchi Ribeiro, was a tutor of Italian.

Congressman Chris Smith (R.-N.J.) had intended to join David Goldman in Brazil. Instead he brought the case to the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday night.

“Child abduction is a serious crime that no legitimate government or self-respecting judicial body anywhere on earth should ever countenance, support, or enable, by either direct complicity or incompetence,” Smith said.

Goldman is on his way back to the U.S., where he will appear on Larry King Live on CNN Thursday night.

Brazilian media is reporting that the country’s Supreme Court is likely to address Sean Goldman’s case next Wednesday, but the court’s final decision remains uncertain.

For more read Eduardo A. de Oliveira’s blog O Globo, at a major daily newspaper in Brazil .

Brazil's Senator Cristovam Buarque. (courtesy photo: AGENCIA SENADO)

Brazil’s Senate is debating an amendment to the nation’s constitution to create at least four congressional seats to represent Brazilian citizens who live abroad in the US, Japan, Europe, and the rest of the world.

Fifty-nine senators recently voted in favor of the amendment — authored in 2005 by Senator Cristovam Buarque of Brasilia.

Brazilians in Massachusetts celebrated the victory, although the amendment still faces an uphill battle. Before it can get passed into law, it must go through one more voting session in Brazil’s Senate, and two in the House.

Currently 3 million Brazilians, worldwide, live outside Brazil, sending about $5 billion back home every year. The Brazilian state of Alagoas, with a population of 2.9 million people, has more natives who live abroad than in the state itself.

“Put it this way: Imagine if Pernambuco [a northern state in Brazil with population of 6 million] did not have its own congressmen. You [Brazilians living in the US] all represent a state,” said Sen. Buarque during a live interview on “Conexao Brasil,” an evening radio show on Portuguese-language WSRO (650 AM) radio station in Framingham, Mass.

If Buarque’s amendment gets Congressional approval, Brazil will join a select group of European countries – such as Italy, Spain and Portugal – that already have passed similar proposals. The new congressmen would be picked among the several communities abroad with the help of Pro-Citizenship United, a Massachusetts committee of Brazilians whose own statue guarantees that its members cannot run for the new political seats.

Last month representatives of Pro-Citizenship United visited Brazil’s Congress in the capital city of Brasilia. The representatives – a pastor, an activist and a real estate broker – were hosted by the Senate president, José Sarney, a former president of Brazil, and the House’s leader, Michel Temer, feeling confident the amendment had some traction.

“We’ve been working hard for several months and never had any financial support,” said Pablo Maia, the group’s spokesperson and owner of Pablo Maia Realty Group in Framingham, Mass, a town with a large Brazilian population. “We’re doing this for our children and grandchildren.”

The news of a possible representative from Brazil stationed in the US spread fast. Brazilians in Massachusetts celebrated the possibility that they could have someone who would be able to deal with renewal of documents, retirement, and healthcare issues. Current legislation in Brazil allows overseas citizens only the right to vote in presidential elections.

“This victory belongs to every immigrant woman, who rises early every day, works hard cleaning homes, and still takes care of [her] husband and children,” said Claudia Tamsky, a longtime community activist and caseworker at the Framingham Community Health Center.

The amendment faces fierce public opposition in Brazil. Only hours after O Globo, Brazil’s major daily newspaper, published a story about the vote in the Senate, hundreds of readers criticized the amendment.

Although many of them agreed that Brazilian workers living abroad deserve greater political representation, they bashed the proposal, saying: “We don’t need to create more corrupt politicians.” They defended the use of some of the existing 513 congressmen to do the task.

Brazilians in the US who favor the proposal’s original text claim that plucking congressmen from Brazil’s 27 states would not be “full representation.” The Brazilian diaspora comes from many parts of the country, they say, and workers deserve a full-time congressman.

The proposal’s author, Senator Buarque, feeling pressure from his colleagues in the Congress, told O Globo, “We’re talking about a proposal to be approved not sooner than 10 years.”

(This article originally appeared on EthnicNewz.org.)

Census regional director Kathleen Ludgate at a talk with New England ethnic reporters.

The 2010 U.S. Census gets underway one year from now. Amid concerns over an undercount of immigrants and ethnic minorities, census officials recently met with ethnic media journalists from New England to address fears and suspicions that may discourage people from participating in the census survey.

According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights there are three main reasons why the 2010 census will be especially challenging:

• The rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric, and heightened immigrant enforcement activities, have created real fear and distrust of the government;
• The foreclosure crisis and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have displaced millions of people, making it hard to do an accurate count; and
• As the first census after 9/11, the Census Bureau will have to deal with Americans’ privacy concerns about how their information is used.

The journalists attending the meeting in Boston represented TV, radio, Internet and newspaper media for African American, Brazilian, Cape Verdean, Chinese, Polish and Spanish communities. Census regional director Kathleen Ludgate told them that the census needs to create media buzz where it matters, in the communities.

“The idea here is to have ethnic journalists tell us the talking points that interest their own readers,” she said.

Addressing the fear that some undocumented residents have about answering the census, Ludgate said “whether it’s the Patriot Act or anything else that’s happened over this decade, the Census Bureau has a good track record of maintaining confidentiality.”

Some immigrants workers have told ethnic newspapers and radio programs that they fear personal information could be used against them if it is revealed to local authorities — even if the information turns out to be inaccurate.

“We don’t share information with the city or anyone else. The only purpose for the data we collect is for the census,” assured Ludgate, whose Region I office oversees all six states of New England, upstate New York, and Puerto Rico.

Census media specialist Cesar Monzon explained, all employees of the census sign an oath of confidentiality, which is renewed annually. Anyone who reveals specific information about any household would be subject to up to five years in prison, plus a $250,000 fine.

In addition, federal laws require that specific data about residents be concealed for 72 years before it can be made accessible to the general public.

Census 2000 vs. 2010, Jobs at the Census

For the first time ever the 2010 census will feature a bilingual questionnaire, in English and Spanish. The Spanish-language census will be mailed to households in targeted areas that have high concentrations of Spanish-speaking residents, such as the cities of Lawrence and Chelsea in Massachusetts, New Haven, Connecticut, and Central Falls, Rhode Island.

In 2000, one in six households received a long-form version of the census, which contained 53 questions spread over 40 pages. In 2010, all households will receive a simple 10-question form. Besides Spanish, the census questionnaire will be available in Chinese, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese.

The census’s Boston office is recruiting 80 facilitators to engage immigrants and minorities to fill out the questionnaire and participate with census staff.

“The Asian community is very participative, and they are aware of the importance of the census to their own communities,” said Angela H. Mah, a census partnership specialist for Asian communities.

Alexandra Barker, a media specialist who works with Brazilian communities, highlighted that the census is in full hiring mode.

“We have positions available for secretary, partnership specialist, a media specialist, and census takers,” she said.

To be eligible to work for the census, candidates must be at least 18 years old and U.S. citizens. Barker referred prospective candidates to 2010censusjobs.gov.

Power, Money and Getting Counted

With minorities undercounted in past census years, New England officials have said that some ethnic communities did not get services that they needed – because the data collected did not adequately represent the ethnic diversity of some cities.

The allocation of federal dollars is based on census population numbers – so if members of an ethnic community are not counted, then the funds allocated will be lower for the undercounted community and the services and programs that target it.

Census information helps determine (click for a fact sheet in .pdf) the location of schools, roads, hospitals, childcare facilities, senior citizen centers, and more.

“Every time I try to get state funding for a program for the Brazilian population, I get the same response: ‘We don’t have many Brazilians, the majority of immigrants here are Hispanic,’” said Germano Martins, from New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services.

While director Ludgate acknowledged that census data “comes down to power, money, and information,” the classification of race and ethnicity was a major source of debate during the UMass press conference, too.

“It seems confusing, because [the census] ask[s] residents to respond ‘no’ if they are not Hispanics or Latinos. Brazilians are not Hispanics but they are Latinos,” said Elizabeth Simoes, a reporter for the Brazilian Times newspaper.

Simoes was referring to question 8 of Census 2010, which asks if the respondent is of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin. Question 9 asks respondents to identify their race among a list of choices, of which one is “some other race.”

Marcela Garcia, editor of El Planeta newspaper, asked Ludgate about another important aspect of the census: its key role in political power and elected representation. The census determines how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the boundaries of legislative districts.

In 2007, studies conducted by POLIDATA and Election Data Services showed that the Massachusetts’ population was projected to rise 2 percent during the current decade, far lower than the national average of more than 10 percent. The Bay State would be the only New England state likely to forfeit a seat in the US House of Representatives after the 2010 census.

“You can certainly address that concern to engage your readership,” said Ludgate.

Census Comes Knocking

The census is a national survey required by the U.S. Constitution to take place every 10 years. The federal government awards more than $3 trillion to help the states count their populations.

One year before the actual data is collected, census staff are already holding neighborhood meetings to talk about redistricting, which determines the number of state representatives and senators each voting district gets.

The census will start mailing questionnaires to homes by March of 2010.

In April 2010, census employees will start canvassing neighborhoods for follow-up. In Massachusetts, canvassing will start in the Eastern region, and then move to the Western part of the state.

From April to July of 2010, census takers will visit households that did not return their questionnaires by mail.

Goldman and his son, Sean. (Photo: BringSeanHome.org)

The ingredients were typical of a soap opera: a handsome American male model falls for a Brazilian fashion student. The couple met in Milan, Italy. From the love of David Goldman and Bruna Ribeiro resulted a happy wedding, a peaceful marriage, and life in New Jersey with their baby boy, Sean.

But the dream of a beautiful family went awry, resulting in an international custody battle that has strained ties between two friendly nations — even prompting an intervention by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In 2004, Ribeiro brought 4-year-old Sean to spend 15 days in Rio de Janeiro. Goldman would join them a few days later. But as soon as she landed in the “Marvelous City,” the mother called David and said she was not returning to the United States. Goldman’s nightmare started when his wife told him that if he ever wanted to see Sean again, he would have to assign sole custody of the boy to her.

Since that phone call, Goldman has fought to have the right to visit his son in Brazil. Meanwhile, Ribeiro married an influential and politically well-connected lawyer, João Paulo Lins e Silva — although in the U.S. her marriage to Goldman was still valid.

In August 2008, the couple’s story took a dramatic turn. After giving birth to a baby girl, Bruna Ribeiro Lins e Silva died of complications from the birth. Although tragic, the events gave Goldman renewed hope that, as the only blood-relative to Sean, he would finally be reunited with him.

Soon after, Goldman, who had been traveling to Brazil for every court hearing that ruled against him, would learn that his late wife’s Brazilian husband had filed a petition before a local family court to remove Goldman’s name from Sean’s birth records and replace it with his own.

Goldman was shocked that such a petition could ever be issued, as another piece of news rocked media outlets in Brazil. Claiming the case in Brazil was protected by “judicial secret,” a family judge of the 2nd District Court in Rio de Janeiro ruled that newspaper Folha de S. Paulo should pay a fine of approximately $60,000 for every article it published from then on about Sean’s custody case. The ruling silenced most of the country’s media.

David Goldman’s best chance of being reunited with his son lie with the Hague Abduction Convention, an international treaty signed by 68 countries, including Brazil and the U.S., to fight child abduction cases.

There are 42 other Hague Convention cases in Brazil that originate in the United States.

Attorney Ricardo Zamariola Junior, of Tranchesi Ortiz & Andrade, the family law office that represents Goldman in Brazil, said in an interview that the Hague Convention says that when a child is unlawfully removed from his or her original country, the nation to where he was brought must return the child within six weeks.

“All we’re asking is that Sean should be returned to New Jersey, the legitimate forum for debating his custody,” he said. “We’re not arguing that David should have… sole custody.”

Sean, who is now eight years old, has lived in Brazil for more than four years; he has attended an American school for two years. Last month, Goldman saw Sean for the first time since his mother took him to Brazil at age 4.

“I used the encounter to make sure he knows I love him, and have been fighting for him for 4 years,” David Goldman said in a phone interview.

The case gained the air of a diplomatic battle when on February 25, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Celso Amorim, Brazil’s foreign minister, that the American government is interested in finding a solution to the case. Presidents Barack Obama and Lula Da Silva are scheduled to meet later this month.

(On Wednesday, secretary Clinton said she hopes the case gets resolved. “I did raise it at the highest levels of the Brazilian government,” she told The Today Show.)

Also this week, Goldman met with several members of Congress. Rep. Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican, accompanied Goldman on his last trip to Rio de Janeiro, where the congressman mediated negotiations to facilitate David’s visit with Sean.

Following an article in The New York Times, several daily papers in Brazil published articles about the case. Still, O Globo newspaper, which is part of the TV Globo broadcasting company in Brazil, refrained from releasing the names of the parties involved in its article.

“It’s true that our judicial code (in Brazil) determines that, as a rule, the parties involved in international custody battles (must abide by) ‘judicial secret.’ However, that doesn’t impede journalists from investigating the facts,” said Zamariola, Goldman’s attorney.

In the U.S., NBC’s The Today Show has done a series of reports on the case. In one report, Goldman airs phone conversations with Bruna that were recorded after she moved to Brazil. In one clip she praises Goldman “as the best father Sean could ever have.”

Goldman’s friends created a web site about the father’s custody battle. The site publicizes the case’s every move, including bills presented before the U.S. Congress to force Brazil to comply with its international duties.

“I know the Brazilian people are honest and hard-working. I hope it’s not possible that these people who are holding my son want to ruin things for the majority of the good and the honest,” Goldman said last week.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, the case has recently been transferred from a local court to the Superior Tribunal de Justiça, the country’s highest federal court.

According to the Times, in August 2004 a New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled that Bruna’s keeping Sean in Brazil was “wrongful,” and ordered the child’s immediate repatriation.

The four-year custody battle has produced several online communities, with many Brazilians admitting their embarrassment at Brazil’s bias in favor of the powerful and well-connected.

“Today (Brazilian TV channel) SBT aired a five-minute report (on the case). The pressure is building. David will have the support of the Brazilian people. But the fight will continue on the Internet,” said Vicky Brollo, an O Globo reader who created an online community about the case.

Ironically, Goldman so far can rely more on the help of the Brazilian people than on their government.

He will participate in a rally in front of the White House the day Lula and Obama meet, to bring attention to his custody battle.

“Write to your judges. Call President Lula. Send letters to the Brazilian congressmen. The Brazilians don’t have to be mean. All they have to do is say: ‘Please, send Sean to his father,’” Goldman said.

Source: EthnicNEWz.org

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Christine Tibor announces the results of Framingham's ESL Lottery. (All photos by E. A. de Oliveira)

“If you don’t speak English, you’re missing out at work, at home,” Luciene Campos said in Portuguese. “When you do, you’re more respected.”

She was one of some 600 immigrants, many of them Brazilian, who recently jammed the auditorium of a Framingham, Mass. middle school waiting for a lottery that would assign 185 slots in English as a Second Language classes.

The classes, Feet In 2 Worlds reporter Eduardo A. de Oliveira wrote on EthnicNEWz.org, are “an obligatory stop for immigrants eager to learn the language of their future — but not all of them would get enrolled.”

Monday,PRI’s nationally-syndicated radio show The World ran a radio piece by Eduardo about the ESL lottery. This is from the show’s website:

Brazilian immigrants make up about a third of the population of Framingham, Massaschusetts. Many newspapers, radio stations and businesses cater to the immigrant’s needs. But the Brazilians still want desperately to learn English. Eduardo de Oliveira reports that the town’s English classes are so popular that you need to win a lottery to get in.

You can listen to Eduardo’s report here:

[Visit post to listen to audio]

Brazilian Luciene Campos takes a test to know which level she will be placed at. At her side is the little girl she babysits.

Here are a couple of extra interviews:

- Christine Tibor is the director of Framingham’s ESL program. Twenty–five years ago, Tibor was the program’s first teacher. In this interview she told Eduardo de Oliveira she knows how it feels to live in a foreign country and not be able to speak the language. During a trip to Venezuela, she survived on a diet of ham-and-cheese, the only two words she knew in Spanish.

[Visit post to listen to audio]

- Fernando Castro is the owner of five tax preparation stores in Massachusetts. He was a student in thel ESL program 19 years ago. Now, he’s an occasional sponsor of the program.

[Visit post to listen to audio]

Christine Tibor receives assistance from Spanish- and Portuguese-language translators.

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When Barack Obama begins to focus on health reform as part of his lengthy to-do list, the new President probably won’t address the case of Pretinha, a 64-year-old undocumented housecleaner from Framingham, Mass., who worked for 22 years, but has no health insurance.

She is not alone. Dr. Milagros Abreu, a Boston University physician, knows hundreds of working families who, despite having paid taxes for years, were left behind by the Massachusetts Health Reform of 2006.

Dr. Milagros has helped more than a 1,000 Latino families enroll in a local health insurance.

Despite Pretinha’s lack of insurance, doctors at MetroWest Medical Center acted promptly after discovering her heart was failing. She was rushed to the operating room to receive a pacemaker, a small device that uses electrical pulses to normalize the heart rate.

Pretinha’s life was saved only because there were people who care for those who “simply don’t qualify.”

“Since June, our goal has been to draft a concrete proposal so the President can work on health reform on day one,” said John McDonough, a former Mass. state representative, and an envoy of Sen. Edward Kennedy’s office to spearhead health reform efforts.

President-elect Obama has said he will look for Congressional input on the direction the country takes on health care reform. But will the Republican minority in Congress compromise? Or will 46 million Americans, of which 32 percent are Latinos, remain uninsured?

“It’s probably too early to say how the Republicans will vote,” said McDonough, who admits that the illness of Sen. Kennedy, who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last May, has helped soften some hearts, but will not be decisive.

Only a few hours after Obama was elected, Physicians for a National Health Program, a Chicago-based group of more than 15,000 doctors, was lobbying for a single payer system.

Critics say such a system follows the Socialist path.

“It’s not socialized medicine,” said Dr. Rachel Nardin, a staff neurologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Nardin not only believes “the country is ready” for such a system, but also points to the current financial crisis as an added incentive.

“The current crisis is crippling business’s ability to compete. It costs GM $ 57 more per car than its competitors oversees because of health care costs,” she says.

Still, for so many immigrant worker all the discussion sounds like ‘rocket science’ when many can’t find care other than at the closest emergency room.

Julcimar de Oliveira doesn’t know how to navigate the complexity of the health system in Massachusetts. Carlos Leite needs help finding a physician. His last doctor’s visit was five years ago. Both workers participated in a recent seminar in Framingham about how the U.S. health system works.

During the final days of 2008, Dr. Milagros coordinated a meeting with some local professionals at the headquarters of MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation to discuss the barriers that prevent Latinos from accessing health care. The goal was to report back to the Obama-transition team.

Among the group’s recommendations – the next administration should tackle language barriers and cultural competency, affordability, lack of access, and the complexity of the health care system.

Last year some college professors from Brazil surveyed 47 immigrants who returned from Massachusetts to their homeland. Virtually all of the “retornados” said they “didn’t know they had the right to get medical care in the U.S.”

Keep in mind: those workers lived in a state proud to extend health coverage to 97 percent of its residents.

For millions of immigrant workers 2008 began with a sour taste in all the mouths they have to feed. Six months into 2007, Congress had drowned their highest hopes by killing the Immigration Reform bill.

For many families there was no choice but to return home – in the Brazilian community of Massachusetts alone there were 10,000 retornados, according to the Brazilian Immigrant Center.

Among those who remained here, much of the rhetoric about the need for immigrants to learn English got stuck in the back of their heads. The consequences were best seen in Framingham, Mass.

During a lottery for seats in an English-as-a-second-language course at Fuller Middle School, 500-plus immigrants competed for 165 seats. Of course the ‘no cost’ policy wooed many. But more than ever, they saw English as the language of their future – whether or not they are documented.

Hairdresser Marta dos Santos smiles upon hearing the news that she is one of 165 immigrants picked for an ESL course at Fuller Middle School. More than 500 people tried to get a seat in the classes. Photo: EDUARDO A. de OLIVEIRA

Despite being an election year, 2008 also served to harden immigrants’ hearts.

In the Republican presidential primary, candidates debated who would be the toughest on deporting undocumented workers. Forget about the melting pot, at that point workers learned that to half of America, all that mattered was their immigration status.

In the end, the Republicans selected a presidential candidate who had a record of trying to help undocumented immigrants. But the workers’ future in the U.S. looked grimmer as gas prices hit $4 per gallon, straining the livelihoods of delivery men, truckers, and taxi drivers.

But David Grabowski, a Health Economist at Harvard Medical School, found something about higher gas prices that was not bad news at all.

“We’ve discovered that for every 10 percent in price increase, there are 2.3 percent fewer fatalities in traffic related accidents. Among teenage drivers, at least 6 percent more lives were spared,” said Grabowski, who compared data from Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), from 1985 to 2006.

In another health-related story, a Dominican doctor used her Boston University credentials to fill a gap left behind by the Massachusetts Health Care Reform law.

Off the bat, Dr. Milagros Abreu’s (her first name means miracles) goal was to enroll 40 low-income families – most of them undocumented – for health insurance. Six months later the Latino Health Insurance Program had signed up more than 1,000 families.

Anthropologist Gláucia Assis interviewed 47 workers who returned to Brazil. Many claimed they did not know they had the right to access health care in the U.S.

“Migrants spend most of their productive years, ages 20 to 40, on foreign soil. Many come back to their homelands in worse shape than when they migrated,” she said.

As immigrants struggled with the new economic reality, a chilling piece of news came from Cape Cod, a tourist oasis accustomed to welcoming foreigners.

“On the morning of July 27 Andre Luiz de Castro Martins, a Brazilian national, was shot and killed by Yarmouth police officer Christopher Van Ness after a brief car chase,” reported The Cape Cod Times.

The shooting left many Brazilians with a sense of helplessness. They could not bring themselves to believe that police officers, who were paid to protect everyone equally, could now be perceived as their enemy.

Later, a report released by the office of Cape Cod District Attorney Michael O’Keeffe, concluded that “officer Van Ness discharged his weapon after issuing commands to the operator, after observing the operator accelerate toward him as he occupied a four to five (4-5) foot space between his cruiser and the path of the vehicle.”

Despite the challenges, through good and bad times, most immigrants stick with this country. How many of them left after the nation was attacked on 9/11? How many abandoned the U.S. after its engagement in open-ended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Many have defended this country on the battlefield. Some have given their lives.

The election of Barack Obama renewed the hopes of millions of immigrant families. Even though he barely mentioned immigration during the fall campaign, Obama represents a change they can believe in: that the one man who understood their plight will honor his campaign commitment by responding to a simple question.

Can we stay in this country? Yes you can!

The news on the local Portuguese-language newspaper Brazilian Times

The talk of the town within the “Brazilian corners” of Somerville and Framingham, Massachusetts is whether the Brazilian housecleaner employed by Homeland Security official Lorraine Henderson betrayed her boss by agreeing to record their conversations for immigration authorities. Henderson, the Boston area port director for the Customs and Border Protection Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was arrested last Saturday for allegedly employing an undocumented Brazilian housecleaner at her home in Salem, Mass.

The controversy in the Brazilian community, which we reported earlier this week, has now made it to the airwaves on Portuguese-language radio in the Bay State.

“Three years ago my boss asked if I had Social Security. I said no. She fired me, but her neighbors kept my services. I would never record a conversation with somebody who gives me a job,” said a listener to a show on WSRO (650 AM), who declined to reveal her name.

“I simply asked my listeners: if a boss treated you well, gave you a job, would you do what this housecleaner did to Henderson?,” said Fausto da Rocha, host of “Brazilian Immigrant Center on the Air” a show broadcast every Monday morning on 1360 AM.

Of about 30 listeners, only two defended the housecleaner’s actions. It’s unclear at this point if the Brazilian woman was arrested, deported, or cut any deal with immigration authorities.

But here are 10 facts which may help answer some questions about the case. All are taken from an affidavit prepared by special agent John Coleman of the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement division. The affidavit was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston on December 4, 2008.

1 – Lorraine Henderson supervised 190 armed agents, and was responsible for denying entrance to illegal immigrants who attempt to come to the U.S. via ports and airports in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut;

2 -The housecleaner, identified only as “IAl 1 (illegal alien 1)” and described by Henderson as “attractive, trustworthy, thorough, but who spoke broken English,” began cleaning her house in the summer of 2004.

3 – The Brazilian lady confessed to another boss, a co-worker of Henderson, that she paid thousands of dollars to be smuggled into the U.S. via the Mexican border. The boss fired her;

4 – During a ride home, Henderson’s co-worker asked her to terminate the housecleaner. Henderson replied that she only interacted with the illegal immigrant via phone or written notes, and that the Brazilian contractor cleaned when she was not at home;

5 – The housecleaner withdrew from Henderson’s contact for a while to have a baby. During that period, two other Brazilian cleaners continued to provide the service;

6 – As ordered by agent Coleman, the Brazilian housecleaner reconnects with Henderson and starts to record phone conversations;

7 – The housecleaner pays her boss a visit. In the parking lot, she sees a white Ford Explorer adorned with Homeland Security logo. The Brazilian woman talks about her illegal status. Henderson says, “I thought you were going to get married,” and recommends “you need to file the (wedding) papers and be very careful, they can deport you.” The housecleaner records the conversation;

8 – The housecleaner explained that she entered the U.S. without a visa 7 years ago, and that she wanted to live in this country forever. Henderson told her “let me see what I can do,” and recommended another neighbor’s house for her to clean.

9 – On October 7th, Henderson inquired further about the housecleaner’s status: when did you come to the U.S.? Where did you enter from? Have you ever committed a felony? Do you have illegal relatives present in the U.S.? The Brazilian woman responded and left a note saying “I am worried about my problem,” referring to her illegal status;

10 – Instructed by agent Coleman, the housecleaner halted her services. On November 12^th, she returned to Henderson’s property without warning her former boss. The Brazilian contractor had the alarm code and let herself in. She didn’t find the customary $75; instead, she saw the business card of another Brazilian cleaner. Coleman concludes his investigation saying that he “interviewed” two other housecleaners from Brazil, both living illegally in the country.

If convicted, Lorraine Henderson faces up to 10 years imprisonment, plus 3 years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.