Brasília, January 5, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - An external commission made up of Senators Hélio Costa (PMDB-MG) and Marcelo Crivella (PL-RJ) and Deputy João Magno (PT-MG) began a five-day visit to the United States today to speed up negotiations for the repatriation of 922 Brazilians held there as illegal immigrants.

According to information from the US Department of Homeland Security, 349 of the 922 imprisoned Brazilians are eligible for immediate repatriation. They have already appeared before the court and fulfilled all legal requirements for repatriation. Another 533 Brazilians can also return, as soon as they receive judicial authorization. The remaining 40 immigrants are still awaiting the scheduling of their hearings.

The American government has an interest in the Brazilians' departure and promised to charter a plane to return them to Brazil. Each Brazilian prisoner costs the American taxpayer about US$ 80 per day, or US$ 2.4 thousand per month.

As well as trying to speed up the process of repatriation, the Brazilian legislators will visit prisons in the state of Texas, to investigate accusations of mistreatment and torture against Brazilians. There are instances of illegal Brazilian immigrants who have been in jail for more than four years in the US. The majority are from Minas Gerais, Paraná, São Paulo, and some Northeastern states. Apart from the United States, there are 800 Brazilians imprisoned for illegal immigration in Great Britain and another 200 in Portugal. (DAS)