This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 001321 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP, CA/VO/F/P 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CMGT BR
SUBJECT: H2B VISAS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY 
 
REFS: A) Brasilia 936  B) Brasilia 2240 
 
SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) As noted in Ref A, Brazil has seen a dramatic rise in 
temporary work visas (H2B) in the last year.  The Sao Paulo 
applicants generally fall into three categories: 1) young, 
educated Brazilians heading to resorts, ski areas and Indian 
casinos for several months to make some money (the good), 2) 
relatives and friends of Brazilians in the U.S. looking to 
work for landscapers, laundries, fish markets and other 
small businesses, predominantly in the Northeastern United 
States (the bad), and 3) unqualified intending immigrants 
who pay $3,000 USD and up to job brokers for a chance to 
enter the U.S. (the ugly). The first group is mostly made up 
of young people from middle class families looking to make 
money and improve their English.   The second group poses 
greater risks because many previously issued applicants for 
the same employers have not returned, making it difficult 
for prospective employees to overcome Section 214b of the 
INA.  The third group is mostly made up of poor, desperate 
people who borrowed money to pay outrageously high brokerage 
fees. 
2.(SBU) From January to November 28, 2005, Sao Paulo 
interviewed 1,515 H2B cases, almost 200% more than for the 
same period in 2004.  Refusal rates increased from 30% in 
2004 to 49% in 2005.  While Brazil, given its distance, has 
not traditionally sent large numbers of temporary workers to 
the United States, the pattern appears to be changing. 
Brazilians can earn significantly more money in the U.S. (to 
buy a house or car or open a business back home) and there 
is a growing immigrant-community support network, 
particularly in New England. 
 
THE GOOD 
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¶3. (U) Sao Paulo sees a large number of mostly young 
Brazilians going to work on H2B petitions for hotels, 
resorts, and lately, Indian casinos.  Petitioners range from 
Marriott Corporation to the Vail Corporation and the Mohegan 
Sun Casino.  The applicants usually have some college 
education and are planning to go to the U.S. for several 
months to make money.  Many are returning employees.  Most 
applicants are named on the petitions and there is no 
wholesale substitution of beneficiaries.  Significant 
numbers of the applicants have tourist visas and the 
companies appear to have rigorous screening processes.  Most 
of these visa applications are issued. 
 
THE BAD 
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¶4. (U) As the number of Brazilians living in New England 
grows, we continue to see small U.S. employers filing H2B 
petitions for landscapers, cleaners, construction workers, 
etc.  While we have considerable sympathy for these cases 
because the employers are trying to hire these people 
legitimately, the problem is that there is little or no 
vetting of the applicants in Brazil.  As a consequence the 
quality of the applicants is mixed, with the desperate-for- 
work cases tending to prejudice the ones who might be 
legitimately planning a temporary trip.  In addition, the 
return rates are not high for most of the petitions, which 
prejudices future applications. 
 
THE UGLY 
-------- 
¶5.  (U) Sao Paulo receives hundreds of applications a year 
from companies such as WorkUSA, JobsUSA, and Proline 
Management that use approved unnamed-worker petitions, or 
named petitions with 100% substitutions, to recruit poor, 
desperate job seekers who are willing to pay upwards of 
$3,000 for a chance to apply for a temporary work visa (see 
ref A for further details).  The jobs are typically hotel 
cleaning jobs and are located throughout the U.S.  Some 
receive a partial refund if the visa is denied but all are 
charged outrageous sums of money to become H2B 
beneficiaries.  Invariably, applicants have borrowed money 
or sold a car to fund the visa application and can never 
hope to make enough money in the four or five months the 
petition is valid to make a roundtrip worthwhile.  We deny 
most of these applications.  Some of the ones that are 
issued arrive in the U.S. to find they have no job.  In the 
end, the recruiters have made a fortune preying on the 
unsuspecting public, consulate visa appointments are swelled 
with these terrible cases, and few are issued visas.  Only 
the recruiters benefit. 
 
¶6. (U) Among the first individuals to recognize the 
financial opportunities presented by H2B visas were human 
traffickers.  Smugglers who had a lucrative business moving 
desperate Brazilians via Mexico or Argentina or the 
Caribbean saw a cheaper and less risky way to profit from 
the same clientele (the Mexico route cost 10,000 USD).  One 
investor in an H2B recruitment agency told Post's fraud unit 
that her partner cheated her out of her entire investment 
and absconded to Europe on a false passport.  He took all 
the applicant fees and five potential illegal immigrants to 
Europe.  The fraud unit contacted the Department of Homeland 
Security, which stopped this smuggler from entering the 
United States. 
 
COMMENT 
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¶7.  (SBU) One issue that continually troubles us is the lack 
of a common database to ensure that petitioner's agents are 
not substituting or sending more workers than they should 
be.  To that end, post supports the H2B beneficiary database 
in the CCD.  We must stop the facilitation of the "ugly" 
cases.  We suggest requiring that only employers be allowed 
to petition workers.  The petitioners for the worst cases 
are typically recruiters or agencies that place the workers. 
Cases are much less problematic when a company such as 
Marriott is itself the petitioner (Marriott in particular 
has an exemplary recruitment program in Brazil).  There must 
also be sanctions to inhibit these local recruitment 
agencies from charging outrageous fees.  The Brazilian 
authorities have expressed some interest in deterring these 
agencies, but under existing Brazilian law prosecution is 
very difficult. 
 
¶8. (SBU) We wish we could issue more of the "bad" cases. 
When an employer can demonstrate that his workers from prior 
years have returned, the issuance rate soars.  Too often, 
however, we have petitioners like one Massachusetts cleaning 
company, whose prior-year beneficiaries all disappeared into 
the large illegal Brazilian population in Massachusetts. 
Perhaps the employers' future participation in the H2B 
program could be conditioned on the return rate of their 
prior employees. 
 
¶9.  (U) Meanwhile, next time you are gambling in Connecticut 
or getting on a chairlift at a ski area, we suggest you 
greet the employees by saying "bom dia." 
McMullen