Posted on 03/10/2008 9:53:51 AM PDT by Disturbin
Francisco Teixeira is up at 6 every morning, taking care of his 7-month-old daughter. The 33-year-old then heads to the Brazilian Convenience Store on Main Street, which he runs with his wife. They keep it open until 8 every night.
Teixeira has been in the United States for the past 12 years, including his first eight in Massachusetts. After a four-year stint in Florida, he moved here to take over the store last month. The state has become his second home. After having a child, he said, he isn't considering going back to Brazil, and is looking to buy a home in Gloucester.
Teixeira estimates that between Rockport and Gloucester, there are 300 to 500 Brazilian immigrants, and stores such as his provide ways to wire money home, buy phone cards to call relatives and stock up on familiar snacks or shampoo. For those who need an earful of their native language and an eyeful of familiar film stars, a wall is stocked with Brazilian DVDs.
A new study conducted by the University of Massachusetts Boston indicates that Teixeira is more the rule than the exception to the Brazilian immigrant population nationally and across the state. His business is one of the 1,000 in Massachusetts owned by Brazilians and, according to study estimates, those companies do about $272 million in sales annually.
Teixeira can't put a finger on why he decided to buy the store on Main Street a month ago. A friend told him about it while he was running a similar business in Florida. Before that, he'd spent a few years working in the restaurant industry.
According to the study, Teixeira's entrepreneurial spirit is in step with that of the Brazilian population across the nation, and especially here in Massachusetts. In the Boston and North Shore regions alone, the study estimates that 17,000 Brazilians reside.
"Brazilians in the U.S. and Massachusetts: A Demographic and Economic Profile" was authored by Brazilian immigrants Alvaro Lima, who is the director of research for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and Carlos Eduardo Siqueira, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health and Sustainability at University of Massachusetts Lowell.
It paints a portrait of Brazilians as hard-working contributors to the economy — to the tune of $1 billion a year in Massachusetts alone — and as frequent business owners.
"You're going to see more and more Brazilian businesses providing jobs in your community," Siqueira said. "Not taking jobs. Providing jobs."
The study authors have been receiving increasingly frequent calls from communities on Cape Cod or the North Shore that hadn't seen large influxes of immigrants before. According to study data, 43 percent of the 75,000 Brazilians in the commonwealth find employment in service-related industries, while 15 percent are self-employed.
Regarding Brazilian immigrants in Massachusetts, the study also found:
- Their unemployment rate is about 4 percent.
- They pay about $295 million a year in state and federal taxes.
- They contribute about $1 billion to the regional economy through spending.
- Economic contributions of their population translate into more than 9,500 indirect jobs for the local economy.
Siqueira argues that the national discussion on immigrants includes assertions not based on evidence — that immigrants take jobs away from the native population, survive on welfare or are burden to taxpayers.
"This discussion is not based on evidence," Siqueira said. "We collected evidence. People should look at evidence before using the issue as a political football."
The study examined the Brazilian population not only nationally, but also across the commonwealth, and named Boston and the North Shore as one of the top three regions for Brazilian settlement. The results, based primarily on census data, showed that 17 percent of North Shore Brazilian immigrants are self-employed like Teixeira and his wife.
Many Brazilians keep ties to home, at least at first, Siqueira said. They use one of Teixeira's most popular services to do so, later wiring money to family there. But there comes a point, Siqueira said, where many immigrants like himself and Teixeira decide to put down roots here, buying homes and building careers. The remittances start to dwindle.
Massachusetts is the second most popular landing place for Brazilians, according the study, falling behind only Florida. Siqueira said the booming economy that the state has enjoyed in the past has lured many immigrants here, as many native-born residents have exited the state for cheaper housing markets. The immigrants are willing to live in tighter quarters or sacrifice some of their quality of life with the hope that they'll move up the ladder eventually, Siqueira said.
"That is the so-called American dream," he said.
Brazilians by the numbers
21: Percentage of Brazilian immigrants who are U.S. citizens.
90: Percentage of Brazilian immigrants who identify themselves as "just passing through."
75,000: Number of Brazilians in Massachusetts.
31: Median age of Brazilians in Massachusetts.
3: Percent of unemployed Brazilians in Massachusetts.
1,000: Number of Brazilian-owned businesses in the state.
Source: "Brazilians in the U.S. and Massachusetts: A Demographic and Economic Profile"
First of all, if you think there are only 75,000 Brazilians in MA, you just fell off of the turnip truck.
Since only "20%" are citizens, just how do they expect us to believe that there is an accurate tally.
I know many Brazilians, all of whom are hardworking and great people.
But with the welcoming center near Boston, it's no wonder they flood in here. And it's a lot farther than Florida!
As long as they are women, I welcome Brazilians into my neighborhood any day.
Well, what percentage are here legally. Who is paying for their health care. How many children are in school, how many demand bilingual education and what is the overall cost? Does the presence of illegals operating in the building trades depress wages and if so by how much?
Funny, I didn’t see any of those questions raised in the article.
Maybe the article was truncated?
Hmmmm .....
They bring hot women and good churrasco. They love to play their samba loud, but, other than that, I have no problems with them, especially compared to other ethnic groups who shall remain nameless.
If someone has demanded bilingual Portugese/English education anywhere, it would be the first I’ve heard of it.
Immigration Impact: Massachusetts
FAIR’s projected annual fiscal costs to Massachusetts taxpayers for emergency medical care, education and incarceration resulting if an amnesty is adopted for illegal residents.
Current: $580,000,000
2010: $992,000,000
2020: $1,737,000,000
Then again, everytime I go to an ATM in Brooklyn, I see Chinese, Russian, Korean, Polish, and Spanish.
I went to a Lithuanian restaurant yesterday, and there was a pile of Russian/English Yellow Page directories at the door. Never seen that before.
They don't seem to be providing any jobs to me.
And who else caught the 90% figure at the end as the percentage of Brazilians identified as "just passing thru"?
“And who else caught the 90% figure at the end as the percentage of Brazilians identified as ‘just passing thru’?”
Since they are here, of course, we have a moral obligation to provide social services during their brief stay.
Framingham, Massachusetts continues to have lots of Brazilians living and working there, and we even had a fugitive from Brazil living in Framingham until he was eventually caught. We also had a couple of Brazilian con artists who recently ending up killing people while pretending to be doctors. Framingham, Ma. is a major connection for Brazilians who want to enter the U.S. both legally and illegally.
I grew up right near Framingham.
I worked with several in food service retail when I was in high school. Again, great people, but all illegal.
From what I remember, Framingham was the start of these ridiculous “pimped out” cars with coffee-can mufflers and picnic-table-sized spoilers on the back.
I've heard that it is a lot easier for a Spanish speaker to learn Portuguese than to learn English. It would be the humane thing to do.
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