When he took refuge in the city of Kissimmee, near Orlando, in the United States, at the end of last year, Bolsonaro just wanted not to pass the presidential sash to Lula and stay there for a month, homized in the house of former MMA fighter José Aldo , in a luxury condominium. His idea was to return at the end of January, alongside his wife Michelle, to resume his political career in a room that would have been reserved for him by the PL, in Brasília, with all expenses paid and a millionaire salary. But it all went wrong. His legal situation has worsened after inciting the terrorist acts of January 8, and the threat of having him arrested is real. He suspects that, when he sets foot in the country, he will be taken to jail, as happened to his former minister, Anderson Torres. In addition, the PL, with resources blocked because of its attacks on the results of the polls, has no money to pay for the captain’s perks. So he has been telling supporters that he doesn’t want to come back any time soon. Who should arrive in the country in the coming days is the former first lady.
The problem is that Bolsonaro, with his visa expired, needs to leave the US and runs the risk of even being deported if he does not immediately regularize his immigration status. President Joe Biden has already shown that he will not move a feather to prevent the former Brazilian president from being kicked out of there. The then president went to Orlando on December 30 with a diplomatic passport used by heads of state, flying on a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) plane. The document, however, lost its validity when Bolsonaro ceased to be president, on January 1st. “If someone enters the U.S. on a diplomatic visa but is no longer on official business representing their government, that person must leave U.S. territory or request a change of migrant status within 30 days,” said the Department’s spokesperson. of North American State, Ned Price, at the beginning of the month, also highlighting the possibility of “removal” for those who are illegally on the ground in that country. International Law professor Carolina Claro, from the Institute of International Relations at UnB, sees a direct message for Brazilians. “If the former president does not obtain immigration regularization, he is subject to deportation, which is the compulsory withdrawal from US territory”, she explains. Itamaraty sources confirm the legal possibility that Bolsonaro will be denied permanence in the US, as the Biden government has been pressured against the former president’s presence on American soil.
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