Trump Administration Grants Flávio Bolsonaro Visa After Election Loss

The Trump administration on Tuesday will grant a visa to failed Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, who fled Brazil for fear that he would face criminal charges and probes in a number of corruption cases involving him and his family.

“The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States,” an administration official told POLITICO.

The official did not specify the kinds of visas Bolsonaro and his family will receive or the expected duration of those legal protections. But the act serves as a major lifeline for a right-wing Brazilian political dynasty with close ties to longtime Trump advisers and associates.

President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his claims that the Brazilian presidential election was “rigged,” while not offering any evidence that authorities in Brazil undermined the country’s electoral system, which is considered one of the most secure in the world.

During Bolsonaro’s campaign for president, the Brazilian Supreme Court unsealed court records confirming an investigation into him and other members of his family, who constitute a right-wing political dynasty in the South American country. After Bolsonaro’s surprise Sunday loss to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a longtime foe of the Bolsonaros, signaled that potential prosecutions were coming. He requested that Bolsonaro relinquish his passports and remain on Brazilian soil.

Brazilian lawmakers receive immunity from prosecution while in office, but Bolsonaro’s immunity, derived from his post as a senator, ended when he lost Sunday to Lula.

Under Brazilian law, Bolsonaro was prevented from running for reelection to the Brazilian Senate while also running for president.

While the Trump administration has made it more difficult for foreigners to migrate legally to the United States, the administration has made exceptions for simpatico foreign politicians and activists. The administration previously granted a visa to a fugitive Polish government minister facing corruption charges; he had been under the protection of the government of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Bolsonaro’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, already lives in the United States. Eduardo, who also faces corruption allegations, was granted permanent residence in the United States in July. Patriarch former President Jair Bolsonaro remains under house arrest in Brazil as he faces charges of fomenting a coup against Lula after his 2022 reelection defeat.

A future Democratic administration could revoke Bolsonaro’s visa if it determines those protections were improperly granted and deport Bolsonaro back to Brazil.

The issue is likely to further strain U.S.-Brazil relations. Guilherme Boulos, a senior official in Lula’s government, wrote on X that Bolsonaro leaving to the United States “is one of the most shameful episodes in Brazilian political history,” adding that Bolsonaro “betrayed the country” and his “followers and voters.”