My old hometown in Western Connecticut was overpopulated by Brazilians. The street I grew up on wasn’t too bad, but my Mom’s best friend’s neighborhood was overwhelmed. Your post struck a familiar chord, Mom said Mrs. B. referred to them as “Mattress People”. I didn’t realize it was a common phenomenon !
Yes, it was really sad; some of them were here on work visas (which lasted two years), and the government wouldn’t let their families come (I guess to make sure they’d leave after two years). Some of them couldn’t make it; they missed their families, so they’d leave early. For the ones that were illegal, this was back when they actually feared deportation - they didn’t take that lightly (they were well-behaved).