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).
I was back in my old home town last summer. The big story was how many had ‘self deported’. The combination of U.S. economic doldrums, and Brazilian economic growth was causing reverse migration.
Thanks for your reply.