The Regional Director of Communities disseminated at the meetings held at the Houses of the Azores of New England, United States, and of Ontario, Canada, with the organisations of these two countries that integrate the International Network of Social Service Organisations, the LEGAL programme - Legalisation Effort of the Government of the Azores and Logistics, which is intended to reduce the phenomenon of deportation in the Azores through the naturalisation of the largest number of individuals as possible.

The working groups of these organisations, which include associations, churches, parish centres, unions, cultural centres, schools and media bodies which, according to Graça Castanho, “support the Azorean community in areas of great relevance, such as disability, advanced age, vocational training, deportation, among many others,” have become acquainted “with a wide range of different materials prepared by the Regional Directorate for Communities, such as leaflets, posters, powerpoint presentations and manuals on deportation. These materials in conjunction with the data and resources the Azorean communities have at their disposal on the Internet, “will formally address the issue of deportation in various spaces at the same time as experts and institutions will provide the logistical support to the legalisation or naturalisation process,” stressed the Regional Director for Communities. 

The Media Bodies, either from the Azores or from the communities in the USA and Canada, are important partners in the development of the LEGAL project, and therefore, the Regional Director for Communities has developed an intensive programme of contacts in order to “request the cooperation" to jointly work in the prevention of deportations which, according to governmental official, is “a modern social phenomenon that affects both the Azores islands as well as the Azorean communities that suffer with the abandonment of their members, most of whom have left behind destitute and desperate families.”

While speaking to the media, Graça Castanho highlighted the work and effort the Government of the Azores has developed through a broad range of initiatives, among which,  she stressed the “Journalism Prize Communities”; the programmes “Saudades dos Açores” (Missing the Azores) for seniors; “Reencontro de Famílias” (Family Reunion) addressed at the deportees’ relatives; “De Mãos Dadas com os Açores” (Holding Hands with the Azores) for individuals with disabilities; “Ao Colo da Língua Portuguesa” (On the Lap of Portuguese Language) for the promotion of the Portuguese language among the younger generations of Azoreans or of Azorean descent residing in our emigrant communities; “Notáveis dos Açores”  (Azores Notables) which aims to distinguish the Azoreans who, by their merit and work, have brought the Azores name to all corners of the world; the LEGAL programme and the Summit  on Human Rights and Quality of life, organised the Regional Directorate for Communities, which will be held at Harvard University and Boston College from November 9 to 12.”

During her work trip to the USA and Canada, Graça Castanho also participated in the opening of the Mário Silva’s campaign; she met with Durval Terceira, President of Canada’s largest union with over 30,000 members and, on behalf of the President of the Regional Government, she attended the “10ª Festa Açorianíssima Gente da Nossa,” organised by Nellie Pedro, from the TV programme “Gente da Nossa.”