The Brazilian Government will once again activate its multi-agency ‘Aqui é Brasil’ protocol this evening (5 February 2026) when a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) charter lands at Belo Horizonte/Confins airport with a new group of deported Brazilian nationals. Scheduled to touch down at 19:45, the flight is part of Washington’s ongoing campaign of summary returns of undocumented migrants. In response, Brasília has built a whole-of-government arrival infrastructure designed to safeguard dignity and speed reintegration.
Under the protocol, arrivals are met air-side by teams from the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development, the Federal Police, public-health officials and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Passengers are transferred to an airport-area hotel that doubles as a temporary reception centre, where they receive food, hygiene kits, medical triage, psychosocial counselling and travel vouchers to their home towns. Case-workers also help obtain identity documents and enrol returnees in job-placement or social-benefit schemes.
Travellers—and the companies that employ them—should also remember that navigating post-arrival paperwork can include securing visas for onward journeys or future business travel. VisaHQ can streamline that process: through its Brazil portal (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/), the firm offers step-by-step assistance with visa applications, document authentication and real-time status tracking, giving both returnees and HR departments a reliable partner when time is short.
![Brazil sets up coordinated reception for deported citizens arriving from the United States]()
Context is key: the number of Brazilians detained at the US–Mexico border surged to almost 25 000 in fiscal year 2025, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Charter deportations resumed in late 2025 after a pandemic hiatus, forcing Brazil to scale up reception capacity. The current government has depicted the programme as a ‘humanitarian obligation’ that avoids the chaotic scenes witnessed when earlier flights left deportees to fend for themselves on the tarmac.
For employers, especially in construction and agribusiness hubs in Minas Gerais and Goiás that experience chronically tight labour markets, the arrivals represent a potential pool of workers—many with US experience—who may seek local opportunities once resettled. HR teams should be aware, however, that returnees often lack up-to-date Brazilian documentation, so onboarding processes may require flexibility and close coordination with local labour departments.
On the policy front, Brasília continues to press Washington for more orderly repatriation schedules and greater consular notification, arguing that uncoordinated mass returns strain municipal social-service budgets. The next test of that dialogue will come in March, when ICE has pencilled in four additional charter operations. ‘Aqui é Brasil’ will remain the frontline mechanism to absorb the human impact while broader migration talks grind on.
Under the protocol, arrivals are met air-side by teams from the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development, the Federal Police, public-health officials and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Passengers are transferred to an airport-area hotel that doubles as a temporary reception centre, where they receive food, hygiene kits, medical triage, psychosocial counselling and travel vouchers to their home towns. Case-workers also help obtain identity documents and enrol returnees in job-placement or social-benefit schemes.
Travellers—and the companies that employ them—should also remember that navigating post-arrival paperwork can include securing visas for onward journeys or future business travel. VisaHQ can streamline that process: through its Brazil portal (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/), the firm offers step-by-step assistance with visa applications, document authentication and real-time status tracking, giving both returnees and HR departments a reliable partner when time is short.
Context is key: the number of Brazilians detained at the US–Mexico border surged to almost 25 000 in fiscal year 2025, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Charter deportations resumed in late 2025 after a pandemic hiatus, forcing Brazil to scale up reception capacity. The current government has depicted the programme as a ‘humanitarian obligation’ that avoids the chaotic scenes witnessed when earlier flights left deportees to fend for themselves on the tarmac.
For employers, especially in construction and agribusiness hubs in Minas Gerais and Goiás that experience chronically tight labour markets, the arrivals represent a potential pool of workers—many with US experience—who may seek local opportunities once resettled. HR teams should be aware, however, that returnees often lack up-to-date Brazilian documentation, so onboarding processes may require flexibility and close coordination with local labour departments.
On the policy front, Brasília continues to press Washington for more orderly repatriation schedules and greater consular notification, arguing that uncoordinated mass returns strain municipal social-service budgets. The next test of that dialogue will come in March, when ICE has pencilled in four additional charter operations. ‘Aqui é Brasil’ will remain the frontline mechanism to absorb the human impact while broader migration talks grind on.
