Jéssica Oliveira da Silva
Top Concerns
Daughter's future
"Will she have opportunities here? Will she face discrimination?"
Work stability
"My hours change weekly. I can't plan anything."
Housing
"If rent goes up again, I don't know what I'll do."
Legal status
"The bureaucracy is impossible. AIMA takes forever."
Isolation from family
"My mother has never met my daughter in person."
Values Profile
Schwartz Human Values Model
Background
Jéssica came to Portugal in 2021, fleeing both economic collapse in Brazil and a difficult relationship. She'd started a business degree in Belo Horizonte but couldn't finish when her daughter was born. Portugal seemed like a chance—same language, easier visas, a new start.
The reality was harder. Her Brazilian degree means nothing here. She works split shifts at a Brazilian restaurant in Mouraria—lunch service, break, dinner service. Her daughter goes to Portuguese school and is becoming more Portuguese than Brazilian, which makes Jéssica both proud and sad.
She's part of the largest immigrant community in Portugal—Brazilians are everywhere now, enough that Portuguese people joke about it. But jokes have edges. "Brazuca" can be affectionate or contemptuous depending on who says it and how. She's felt both.
The evangelical church is her community. She found faith after arriving, and the church provides what Portugal's systems don't—childcare help, emotional support, a network of Brazilians who understand. The pastor talks about family values, hard work, God's plan. Some members support Bolsonaro; others fled him. They don't discuss politics much.
She can vote in local elections after 3 years of residence, but not national ones. She watches Portuguese politics without a voice, wondering what Chega's rise means for her daughter, who has a Brazilian accent and brown skin.
Economic Situation
Income level
Low (€950/month, often with tips)
Income source
Service work (informal hours, some undeclared)
Financial stress
High (single mother, rent consuming 47% of income)
Housing burden
47%
Trajectory
Uncertain (depends on regularization, opportunities)
In Their Own Voice
"Portugal is complicated. Portuguese people are mostly kind, but there's this... distance. They complain about immigrants while eating at immigrant restaurants, hiring immigrant cleaners. Lisbon runs on us. But we can't vote for president, we wait years for documents, and some people look at my daughter like she doesn't belong. Still, it's safer than Brazil. It's a future. I have to believe that."
— On Portugal
Hopes
For themselves
herself
"I want stability. A contract with real hours. Maybe to finish my degree someday. To bring my mother here to meet her granddaughter."
her daughter
"I want Beatriz to feel Portuguese but know she's Brazilian too. To have opportunities I didn't have. To never feel she doesn't belong."
Personal fears
"That something happens to me and Beatriz is alone here. That I get sick and can't work. That rent becomes impossible and we have nowhere to go."
Fears about Chega/politics
"When Ventura talks about immigrants, I know he means us. Brazilians especially. If people like him get power, what happens to my daughter?"
What she'd want politicians to know
"I work twelve-hour days. I pay taxes. I'm raising a Portuguese citizen. But I can't vote for president, I can't get an appointment at AIMA, I can't get my degree recognized. I'm not asking for charity—I'm asking to participate in the country I'm building."
On Chega's rise
"In Brazil we had Bolsonaro. I know how this goes. They start with corruption, then it's immigrants, then it's women, then it's anyone different. My church friends who supported him regret it now. I hope Portuguese people learn faster than we did."
For Portugal
immigrants in Portugal
"I hope Portugal stays welcoming. That they see we work hard, we contribute. We're not here to take—we're here to build."
How she'd describe Portugal today
"Portugal is complicated. Portuguese people are mostly kind, but there's this... distance. They complain about immigrants while eating at immigrant restaurants, hiring immigrant cleaners. Lisbon runs on us. But we can't vote for president, we wait years for documents, and some people look at my daughter like she doesn't belong. Still, it's safer than Brazil. It's a future. I have to believe that."
Fears
For themselves
Personal fears
"That something happens to me and Beatriz is alone here. That I get sick and can't work. That rent becomes impossible and we have nowhere to go."
Fears about Chega/politics
"When Ventura talks about immigrants, I know he means us. Brazilians especially. If people like him get power, what happens to my daughter?"
What she'd want politicians to know
"I work twelve-hour days. I pay taxes. I'm raising a Portuguese citizen. But I can't vote for president, I can't get an appointment at AIMA, I can't get my degree recognized. I'm not asking for charity—I'm asking to participate in the country I'm building."
On Chega's rise
"In Brazil we had Bolsonaro. I know how this goes. They start with corruption, then it's immigrants, then it's women, then it's anyone different. My church friends who supported him regret it now. I hope Portuguese people learn faster than we did."
For Portugal
How she'd describe Portugal today
"Portugal is complicated. Portuguese people are mostly kind, but there's this... distance. They complain about immigrants while eating at immigrant restaurants, hiring immigrant cleaners. Lisbon runs on us. But we can't vote for president, we wait years for documents, and some people look at my daughter like she doesn't belong. Still, it's safer than Brazil. It's a future. I have to believe that."
Candidate Reactions
How this person would react to each candidate winning
Independent ("My party is Portugal")
Henrique Gouveia e Melo
Key trigger: Organized vaccines for everyone including immigrants
PS (center-left)
António José Seguro
Key trigger: PS seems more immigrant-friendly
PSD/CDS backing (center-right)
Luís Marques Mendes
Key trigger: Doesn't know him; traditional right worries her
Bloco de Esquerda (left)
Catarina Martins
Key trigger: Values progressive views; doesn't know her
Iniciativa Liberal
João Cotrim Figueiredo
Key trigger: Liberal ideas unclear to her
PCP (Communist Party)
António Filipe
Key trigger: PCP supports workers but feels old
Chega (far-right)
André Ventura
Key trigger: Direct threat to immigrant community
Information Sources
Where they get their information
community
High TrustChurch, restaurant colleagues, school parents
online
Medium-HighInstagram, WhatsApp groups, Brazilian YouTube
social media
High TrustWhatsApp (church group, Brazilian mom group), Instagram
tv
Medium TrustBrazilian channels (Globo), some SIC