His intense activities within the labor movement made Passos one of the most persecuted anarchists by the authorities, and he was jailed several times. In the repression following the Paulista Revolt of 1924, in which some labor leaders took part, Passos was deported to the penal colony of Clevelândia do Norte, on the border with French Guiana. Under his escape plan, he and other prisoners crossed the French Guianese border and fled to Belém do Pará, where Passos stayed until 1927.