ABSTRACT

This chapter analyses how Brazilian migration policies have historically included imaginary ideals and specific visions of international migration and migrants, closely linked to different development perspectives. Throughout four different periods, we analyse the prevailing views of elites about migration and their contributions to development. In addition, we dismantle the myth of Brazilian racial democracy and describe the selectivity criteria and the ideal type of migrant preferred in each period that has privileged the entry of ‘white and European populations’. We conclude with an analysis of the current Brazilian migration policy that maintains criteria of selectivity and includes a hybrid perspective of the link between migration and development, considering both advantages and disadvantages of the phenomenon, as well as the contributions of the Brazilian Diaspora to national development.