Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, but the big news today is in Brazil.
Bolsonaro’s Son Seeks Asylum in US From Trump
Last week in mourning the assassination of Marielle Franco, I lamented how few Americans paid attention to Brazilian politics. However, fascists in both North and South America very much pay attention and give encouragement to one another.
Now, it appears that former Brazilian President Jai Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian Congressman, intends to seek “political asylum” in the United States from the Trump Administration.
The move comes as Jair Bolsonaro has been charged with attempting to assassinate Brazilian President Lula and orchestrate a coup. Several of Jair Bolsonaro’s top aides have already been arrested and Eduardo Bolsonaro has previously been implicated in the plot.
Bolsonaro’s top military aide Lt. Colonel Mauro Cid accused Eduardo Bolsonaro of being part of the coup plot.
"These people were in constant conversation with the former president, urging him to stage a coup d’état, claiming he had the support of the people,” read the testimony of Cid made public in January.
In late February, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian Congressman, traveled to the United States. Now, he says that he has no plans to leave the United States. He says that he fears for his life and the life of his father and intends to seek asylum in the United States.
“I have no doubt that our enemies’ plan is to incarcerate him, to assassinate him in prison or leave him there forever, just as would have happened with Donald Trump if he had not been re-elected in 2024,” Eduardo Bolsonaro said in a video announcing his asylum application today.
Bolsonaro’s asylum application is likely to be approved by the Trump Administration. Trump has been allied closely with the Brazilian fascist family.
In contrast, Trump has made it all but impossible for hundreds of thousands of working-class Latin Americans to seek asylum in the United States.
For more analysis on the implications of Eduardo Bolsonaro’s asylum plea, check out the English language site “De-Linking Brazil.”
Help Us Continue to Cover US-Brazilian Solidarity
Despite Brazil being the second largest democracy in the Americas, few left publications in the United States pay any attention to Brazil.
In 2022, Payday was on the ground in Brazil when Lula was elected President and even traveled with him to the Oval Office of the White House in 2023. We were also there in 2024 when Marielle Franco’s killers were caught after a long 6-year fight.
Donate to help us keep covering US-Brazilian solidarity. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our recurring donors today.
Trump Delays Complying With Rehiring Order Citing Administrative Burden
This week, two federal judges ordered the Trump Administration to rehire nearly 25,000 federal employees, who were dismissed en masse while in their probationary periods.
However, the Trump Administration has sidestepped rehiring them and instead has placed nearly 19,000 of these employees on “administrative leave.” The move comes as the Trump Administration intends to appeal the rehiring orders to higher courts.
“[T]hey would have to be onboarded again, including going through any applicable training, filling out human resources paperwork, obtaining new security badges, reinstituting applicable security clearance actions, receiving government-furnished equipment, and other requisite administrative actions,” the Trump Administration argued in legal filings.
For more on what the rulings means for each department, check out States Newsroom.
Egg Workers Forced to Work at Gunpoint
Around the country, egg prices have spiked as the Trump Administration has struggled to contain an outbreak of bird flu. As a result of shortages, egg companies have engaged in price gouging, raising the cost of eggs by 59% in one year.
One egg farmer, Centrum Valley Farms in Iowa, and its manager Jose Cornejo, are now being accused of human trafficking by six Guatemalan immigrants.
When the workers complained about their working conditions, Cornejo threatened them with a gun. From Iowa Capital Dispatch:
When the Guatemalans complained about Cornejo to other managers, the harassment allegedly grew worse with Cornejo threatening to have them deported. “Cornejo even brought a firearm to work, showed it to the plaintiffs, and displayed it in his office to intimidate the plaintiffs and silence their complaints,” the lawsuit claims.
Cornejo also is accused of threatening to turn the Guatemalans into Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they tried to voluntarily leave their positions at the company.
“Centrum Valley Farms wanted obedient workers to perform difficult and undesirable job duties that many U.S. citizens are unwilling to perform,” the lawsuit alleges. The company eventually terminated the Guatemalans’ employment “in retaliation for their complaints,” the lawsuit adds.
For more, check out Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Western PA Community Hurt By Anti-Immigrant Policies
Finally, the bombed-out deindustrialized community of Charleroi, which has taken in hundreds of Haitians, say their community is likely to see an economic decline as a result of Trump’s immigration policies. From WESA:
Membership at First United has grown by around 50% the past few years, [Pastor Randy] Ord said. More than a third of his congregation is now made up of Haitian families.
“The future of this church, if it survives, will be because of immigrant population,” Ord said.
Two Methodist churches he serves nearby are struggling with aging congregations, and there has been talk of consolidation. But in Charleroi, “We have babies and it’s really nice to hear them in the service, cooing and talking,” said McCuen, whose own parents brought her to First United as a baby.
Most local leaders tell a similar tale of Charleroi itself — a story that contrasts sharply to other parts of the Mon Valley. An influx of immigrants has meant that Charleroi’s population, long in decline, has returned to levels not seen since the 1970s. With the new arrivals have come new businesses and newly refurbished houses.
“They fixed up so many buildings in the town and filled so many storefronts compared to where we were at,” said Leanna Spada, the executive director of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce.
News & Links Elsewhere
- California Governor Gavin Newsome won’t intervene in Silicon Valley transit strike
- Fired federal workers lose student loan forgiveness
- IRS agents working with ICE to deport immigrants
- Yellowstone Park may not be able to hire back staff fast enough
- ProPublica has a piece on how they try to use AI responsibility in their reporting
- Finally, The New York Times has a long look at how housekeepers from East Africa moved to Saudi Arabia and suffered beatings, sexual assaults, and even starvation
“He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center.”
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, comments, and complaints to melk@paydayreport.com
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See yinz tomorrow,
Melk
