Democrats move to deny visa to Brazil's Bolsonaro, enable deportation

A group of Senate Democrats announced legislation this week to deny former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a U.S. visa in the aftermath of a riot in Brasilia during which his supporters stormed the halls of the nation's Congress and Supreme Federal Court demanding the ouster of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Ill., and Mazie Hirono, Hawaii, along with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vt., accused the former head of state of seeking undermine democracy in his home country and contended that such a move should bar him from remaining in the United States.

"America must never become a safe haven for anyone who assaults the values for which our nation stands: democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and the sanctity of free and fair elections," the group stated, according to the Washington Times.

The proposed legislation would give the secretary of state the authority to determine if a foreign official interfered in an election or the transfer of power and to subsequently deny admission to the U.S. should they be found to have done so.

Bolsonaro narrowly lost reelection in 2022 to former President Lula, in the closest national election in Brazil's recent history. Lula's candidacy was controversial given that he had previously been caught in a major corruption scandal and barred from running in the 2018 contest that Bolsonaro won.

Brazil's top court later overturned Lula's 2017 conviction and permitted him to run in the 2022 contest. Lula had appointed several of the justices on the court and the decision was not without public outcry.

Bolsonaro, nonetheless, committed to a peaceful transfer of power after losing reelection and left the country for Florida before his opponent was sworn into office.

His supporters, meanwhile, were unwilling to accept Lula's win, believing him to be hopelessly corrupt and stormed several key government buildings in early January to demand his ouster. The episode resulted in mass arrests and drew many comparisons to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot in the United States.

Democrats have pressured Biden since the affair to move to extradite Bolsonaro from the country. Brazil, meanwhile, has moved to investigate Bolsonaro for his alleged role in the episode, despite his absence from the country at the time. The former president publicly condemned the actions of his supporters.

Brazilian officials have pointed to a video Bolsonaro posted to social media questioning the legality of the 2022 contest that he published two days after the incident as evidence of "public incitement to commit crimes."