(DW) On Friday, July 26, Justice Minister Sergio Moro issued a decree that would expedite the deportation of noncitizens whom the government alleges pose a threat to Brazil — or even bar them from entering the country at all.
Many observers call the timing of the provocatively decree titled No. 666, curious.
“Nothing has happened in Brazil that would warrant such a decree,” Tania Maria de Oliveira, of the ABJD jurist association, told DW.
About 11,000 people with official refugee status live in Brazil. Close to 160,000 applications are pending. “We have very few illegal immigrants,” Oliveira said, “The numbers are low — so there are no grounds for this decree.”
Under Moro’s decree, people denied permission to remain would have to formally object within 48 hours — rather than the 60 days currently allotted. The decree would also allow for deportations should authorities allege that people may pose a danger to the country. The law would even permit deportations based on intelligence by foreign agencies.
Thiago Amparo, a law professor who works with the FGV education foundation, called Moro’s decree problematic in that it “prevents immigrants from making use of their rights.” Amparo said Brazil was echoing the “tough anti-immigrant rhetoric” of the regimes in the United States, Poland and Hungary.
The public defender Joao Chaves told DW that the decree came as a complete surprise to immigration specialists, Brazil, he said, has historically naturalized people with unauthorized status rather than deporting them.
