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Chinanews
10/23/2007
With the dollar falling and the economy in Brazil booming, Brazilian immigrants in the United States are returning home by the thousands. Dan Grech reports.
Up to 10,000 Brazilian immigrants in Boston -- many of them here illegally -- are expected to follow Benicio home this year. Brazilian strongholds in New Jersey and South Florida are seeing a similar exodus.
Many immigrants say they are leaving because they feel lonely and afraid as local sentiment has turned against illegal immigrants and, for the first time in decades, these Brazilians have a viable alternative back home: a robust economy with plenty of jobs.
Costly Program for Rural Businesses Yields Dubious Results
By Gilbert M. Gaul
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 5, 2007; A01
Under a program to create jobs in rural America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture guaranteed $1.6 million in loans to Aztec Environmental Inc., an asbestos-removal company in Panama City, Fla.
Aztec did create jobs -- for hundreds of workers from Guatemala. "Locals didn't want the work," said Debbie Livingston, one of the owners.
Three years later, in February, Aztec went out of business after a federal investigation into allegations of environmental abuses and the hiring of illegal immigrants. Now, the USDA could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars on the loan.
Transportation planners say I-10 not intended for local trips
Despite some Tallahassee area residents' calls for more access ramps to Interstate 10, transportation planners say there are no plans to add any on existing roads.
Furthermore, they say, the interstate isn't intended for local trips.
That was the answer given by Harry Reed, the executive director of the Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency, to residents' questions during this week's Direct Access Forum on Tallahassee.com. Two people wanted to know why ramps aren't planned for Olson, Centerville, Miccosukee, Meridian and Mission roads.
Reed said planners want more interconnecting roads throughout the region to limit commuters using the interstate as a local road.
"The more you add to (the interstate)," Reed said, "the more it's going to get clogged."
Traffic counts conducted on I-10 showed that an average of 50,500 people drove past a point near U.S. 27 (Monroe Street), a mid-point through town, every day in 2006. Far fewer were counted at the city limits: 37,500 west of Capital Circle Northwest and 28,000 near U.S. 90 on the other side of town.
"A lot of locals are using I-10," said Tommie Speights, a spokesman for the department. "That's what's causing the congestion."
That's not what interstates are for, Reed said.