Airplane shot

As I made my way from Miami to São Paulo once again last week, I thought I’d pause and reflect on all the times I’ve taken this trip over the past 13 years.

I first moved to the US back in January 2012. I haven’t kept an exact count of how many times I’ve made this journey, but a safe estimate is about 2.5 times per year — over 30 trips in total. That adds up to hundreds of thousands of miles traveled, enough to circle the globe multiple times.

I’ve never been particularly loyal to any airline and have always prioritized cost and reasonable routes. Flying from the West Coast to my hometown, Porto Alegre, usually takes two stops — that is, three flights in total. When I lived in San Francisco it was a lot easier, as the city offers more flight options to Central and South America compared to Seattle.

I’ve tried many different routes, hacks and airlines throughout these years and had my fair share of missed and delayed flights, missed connections, frustration, exhaustion, and jet lag. Over time, I’ve gravitated towards Copa Airlines, as they offer a direct flight from Panama City to Porto Alegre. After some experimentation, my usual route became SEA/SFO – MIA – PTY – POA. My second-best option is flying through São Paulo (GRU) instead of PTY, but I prefer to avoid it because of its constant chaos.

The total trip time is usually about 24 hours door-to-door, which is massively long and draining. I always land absolutely exhausted but try to adapt to the local timezone as quickly as possible by getting some sunlight, exercising if I have the energy, and going to bed at a normal local time — even if it’s hard to stay awake sometimes. I’ve learned this is the quickest way to adjust, otherwise I’d take much longer to shift my internal clock. It’s just 1-2 days of pain and then smooth sailing afterward.

In a previous post, I shared what it was like traveling this route with my family for the first time. It was quite an experience.

Living this split life between two distant places hasn’t been easy, but with family still in Brazil and as an only son, meant I’d have to keep coming back to care for my mom who is quite old and frail.

Despite the challenges, I still believe that moving to the US was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I have no regrets, although at times I’ve thought about saying “screw it” and giving up. One especially painful moment was back in 2013 when I was returning to the US and went through immigration in Atlanta, GA.

At the time, I had recently switched jobs and was still on a H-1B visa. The way the H-1B visa worked (and still works), the work permit and temporary residency it grants is contingent on being in full-time employment, and it was tied to the employer. When switching jobs, you don’t need to get a new visa stamp on your passport unless you leave the US. If you do, you must go to US consulate on your country (at the time, the closest for me was in Rio de Janeiro) and go through the whole process again, which was slow and expensive.

I had no idea about any of this, so I learned it the hard way. At the Atlanta International airport, I was pulled into secondary inspection at the immigration checkpoint and held there for several hours. I was interrogated multiple times and locked in a small room with no windows all day, with no access to the outside world. I was essentially detained and held hostage, while the CBP officers sorted out my status. Eventually, they informed me that my visa was not valid and I wasn’t admissible into the US. My visa was immediately revoked, and I was escorted by armed officers to the next flight back to Brazil, as if I were a criminal. I still remember people staring at me at the gate, as I was sent back to Brazil, utterly confused and frustrated.

At that time, I was still in my 20s, with my entire career ahead of me and excited about the prospect of starting my life in the US. I went through the hassle of renewing my visa and eventually flew back about a month later — this time, I was finally admitted.

That was an incredibly frustrating experience that I’ll certainly never forget. Being detained and deported was a traumatic experience, but it wasn’t enough to stop me.

It’s crazy to me how broken the US immigration system still is. Today, crossing the border illegally is often “easier” than through the legal channels. The bureaucracy, unpredictability, and inefficiency create unnecessary barriers for talented individuals who want to contribute to this country. I hope that this administration prioritizes fixing this, as countless other skilled and motivated individuals dream of starting their lives in the US but don’t have the same luck and opportunities that I had.

A comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue. The US should adopt a merit-based point system for skilled immigration — just as Canada and Australia have done successfully. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel — just follow what has worked. A system that prioritizes high-skilled workers and streamlines legal pathways would benefit both immigrants and the US economy.

Today, I’m proud to be a US (and Brazilian) citizen. This country has given me incredible opportunities, and I hope to see it continue improving for future generations. 🇺🇸