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The Independent UK

National

Lea Skene and Tim Sullivan

She was adopted into an abusive US home. Decades later, immigration policies sent her back to Brazil

United States Immigration Brazil Donald Trump Ice America Prison

Brazil Trump Immigration - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

It sounded like freedom, like a world of possibility beyond the orphanage walls.

Maria Pires was getting adopted. At 11 years old, she saw herself escaping the chaos and violence of the Sao Paulo orphanage, where she’d been sexually assaulted by a staff member. She saw herself leaving Brazil for America, trading abandonment for belonging.

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