Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)We address the question of why strongly correlated d-wave superconductors, such as the cuprates, prove to be surprisingly robust against the introduction of nonmagnetic impurities. We show that, very generally, both the pair-breaking and the normal state transport scattering rates are significantly suppressed by strong correlations effects arising in the proximity to a Mott insulating state. We also show that the correlation-renormalized scattering amplitude is generically enhanced in the forward direction, an effect which was previously often ascribed to the specific scattering by charged impurities outside the copper-oxide planes.93 CNPq (Brazil) [304311/2010-3, 590093/2011-8]NSF (USA) [DMR-1005751, DMR-1410132]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)