This study is not intended to be a representation of all Brazilian immigrants in the United States or of all returnees in Brazil
. The aim of this study is to evaluate at the micro-level, how migration processes between two 'migration corridors' - an older one between Governador Valadares and Framingham, and a more recent one between Piracanjuba and Marietta - shape migrant experiences, livelihoods, and notions of place. That is, I evaluate transnational ways in which migrants (re)create places and spaces within the migration process. To better comprehend the context and symbolic nature of Brazilian migration processes, a discussion of some of the conditions and caveats of immigrant geographical origins and US ethnic identity categories is in order.