Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday morning, according to reports.
Mr Bolsonaro flew to the US after losing the presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday and failing to comply with a Supreme Court order to turn in his passports to federal police.
A senior State Department official said on Tuesday that the US would issue visas to Mr Bolsonaro and his family.
Mr Bolsonaro has yet to concede to Mr da Silva, although his party has done so. He was ordered to surrender his passports due to a money-laundering investigation, and he has faced other accusations of criminal activity. He has denied any wrongdoing.
On arrival in Miami, Mr Bolsonaro was greeted by his brother, Eduardo, according Brazilian news outlet O Globo. Eduardo has lived in the US since last year after moving there to lobby President Donald Trump to help their father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup and is serving a 27-year jail sentence.
His arrival in the US threatens to deepen a rift between Washington and Brasilia. Mr da Silva has accused the US of scheming with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported before Sunday's election on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office.
"Well, I would approve [of the Bolsonaros coming to the US]. I think they're fine people. The election was very strange, and I thought it was terrible. It's gotten bad reviews. You look at what happened to their market," Mr Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
"I think it's so terrible to see it. I didn't take sides, you know. I know them both. I know Lula. I know Flavio a little bit. I know the father very well. The father was treated really badly, I thought, but I wasn't involved. That's Brazil. It's a different country."
Mr Trump has previously claimed Jair Bolsonaro was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil. The elder Bolsonaro also went to the US after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US President Joe Biden was in office.
Mr da Silva criticised Mr Bolsonaro's decision to leave, calling it "shameful".
"Anyone who sneaks out of their country has something to hide," he said.
