Routes to the First World: Brazilian migration journeys after the September 11 attacks

Abstract

This paper examines how Brazilians remodeled their international migration routes to the “First World” after the September 11 attacks. It explores the connections between the temporary suspension of Brazilian migration to the United States and the rise of the United Kingdom as the main destination. To shed light on the production of new routes by Brazilians, the paper unfolds personal migration journeys performed to overcome border controls set by the UK. The empirical data at the basis of this article come from a broadly qualitative, ethnographic approach, which comprised multi-sited fieldwork in the UK and Brazil, and two sets of oral histories conducted with migrants, travel agents, and returned migrants between 2010 and 2016. Based on these sources, the article shows how migrants developed tactical border crossing movements to negotiate with institutions and structures of power that control and constrain their movements with threats.