Burning Atlanta

WE, those that have followed this issue for many years, have been saying this all along. Cut off the incentives, start enforcing the laws, and they'll go home. No need for cattle cars.

See ya'

After federal lawmakers killed the bill in June, dashing illegal immigrants' last hopes to come out of the shadows, many started to pack up and go back home.

For Barros' company, which specializes in shipping boxes and containers to Brazil, business is booming. At his Irving Street store, where cardboard boxes filled with clothes, small electronic appliances, toys and other belongings sit on the floor waiting to be dispatched to Brazil, Barros has gone from arranging one weekly move to four or five per week. Calls to his business Hora Certa, "Right Time" in Portuguese, went up from 15 a day to 70 in a matter of weeks.

Immigrant advocates have also taken note. Fausto da Rocha, director of Allston's Brazilian Immigrant Center, estimates between 5,000 and 7,000 Brazilians will leave Massachusetts by the end of the year. According to Da Rocha, there may be up to 300,000 Brazilians living in the Bay State, but the numbers may be dropping rapidly.

"We may be seeing the beginnings of a Brazilian exodus in Massachusetts," said da Rocha. "If this continues, there will be serious consequences for the state's economy, not only for the Brazilian community."

Da Rocha attributes the phenomenon to a combination of factors such as increasing demands from employees to produce working papers, immigration crackdowns, and a widespread anti-illegal immigrant sentiment.

"Brazilians stopped feeling welcome," said da Rocha. "They feel persecuted and unwanted."

In Marlborough, the feeling of apprehension among Brazilians became more acute after officials debated opening an immigration enforcement office in the city. The proposal went nowhere, but large numbers of Brazilians left Marlborough, said Alexandra Silva, who manages a hair salon on Main Street.

"Close to 50 percent of Brazilians left Marlborough," she said. "Some went to other places, and many are going back to Brazil. I know at least 10 people who are going back home soon. People are tired of feeling afraid."