Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's presidential runoff election, arrived at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday morning.

Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro arrived at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday morning with his wife and two daughters after fleeing their country. Photo by Andre Borges/EPA UPI

BRASILIA, Brazil, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's presidential runoff election, arrived at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday morning with his wife and two daughters after leaving Brazil despite a court order barring him from traveling abroad.

The family arrived under tight security, with an increased police presence at the airport, following an international route that allowed Bolsonaro to circumvent Brazilian judicial restrictions.

His departure comes just months before his Senate term expires in late January 2027, when he is expected to lose the special legal protections afforded to lawmakers under Brazilian law.

Bolsonaro's departure violated an order issued Monday by Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who barred the senator from leaving Brazil and ordered him to surrender his passports.

The former presidential candidate is under investigation on suspicion of money laundering and illegal foreign currency transactions.

Bolsonaro and his family crossed Brazil's land border into Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, late Tuesday before boarding a private Gulfstream G400 aircraft operated by Baires Fly S.A., CNN Brasil reported.

Argentina's National Directorate of Migration confirmed the family's border crossing in an official statement Wednesday.

According to the agency, Bolsonaro entered Argentina at 10:50 p.m. local time Tuesday through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge crossing in Misiones province, traveling in a van.

Immigration records identified the four travelers as Flávio Nantes Bolsonaro, Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro, Carolina Figueira Bolsonaro and Luiza Figueira Bolsonaro.

The agency said they entered Argentina with valid travel documents and faced no legal restrictions on entering the country.

At 11:30 p.m., the family boarded a private flight operated by Baires Fly S.A. bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, according to the flight plan.

Argentine newspapers Clarín and La Nación reported that Santiago Caputo, a political strategist and adviser to President Javier Milei, was present when the private aircraft departed early Wednesday, raising questions about possible involvement by Argentine government officials in Bolsonaro's fleeing.

The aircraft stopped in Guayaquil to refuel early Wednesday before continuing to Florida.

Brazil's Federal Police canceled all passports issued to Bolsonaro after he failed to surrender them within the court-ordered deadline. Bolsonaro reportedly used an Italian passport to enter foreign territory, according to Brazilian news outlet G1.

The U.S. government authorized Bolsonaro's entry. Brazilian news outlet UOL reported that the State Department had approved immigration documents for the senator and his family.

President Donald Trump later publicly expressed support for Bolsonaro's arrival in the United States.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said he approved of Bolsonaro's trip, described the family as "good people" and again criticized the results of Sunday's presidential runoff, in which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Bolsonaro. Trump did not provide evidence to support his allegations.

Meanwhile, Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Flávio Dino ordered Federal Police on Tuesday to accelerate an investigation into suspected foreign interference and irregular financing during Bolsonaro's presidential runoff campaign, Veja reported

The investigation seeks to determine whether foreign funding and influence operations affected the election, including possible financial links to Rockbridge Network, a U.S. organization co-founded by Vice President JD Vance.

Authorities are also examining allegations of deliberate algorithm manipulation on social media platforms, including Meta and X, to influence voters, as well as foreign-funded advertising and possible manipulation of betting markets on international platforms such as Polymarket.

In explaining his decision, Dino warned of the seriousness of the allegations and emphasized that Brazilian law prohibits direct or indirect interference by foreign individuals, organizations or governments in the country's democratic and sovereign electoral process.