Brazil is in the midst of a building boom as it constructs stadiums across the country in preparation for the World Cup it will host next year. In Sao Paulo, hundreds of workers are building a massive arena that will take many more months to complete.
But not all of the workers are Brazilian.
Marie Eveline Melous, 26, arrived from Haiti just a few months ago because life was so difficult, especially after the huge earthquake in 2010. "It's hard to find work. I came to Brazil to help my situation," she says.
She's now working in the administration department at the stadium construction site, and her Haitian husband works here as a welder.
They are among the lucky ones — they have visas and jobs. But across town there are many more who are struggling to survive.
There are more than 100 Haitians clustered in a dark waiting room at Our Lady of Peace Church in downtown Sao Paulo. They are the newest group of undocumented migrants to come flooding into Brazil.
The Rev. Paulo Parise, who runs the mission, says Brazil has entered a new phase. "Brazil used to export its people overseas, but now we are attracting migrants," he says.
An Emerging Issue
The number of undocumented migrants here is still tiny compared with countries like the U.S., where there are millions of illegal immigrants. Such immigrants make up less than 1 percent of the Brazilian population.
But the number is growing and advocates say Brazil doesn't know how to cope.
In April, a Brazilian state on the Bolivian border declared a state of emergency after only a few thousand Haitians made their way into the country.
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