Costa Rica announced Monday that she will take flight this week from the United States carrying 200 immigrants from Central Asia and India, making the second nation to Central America to accept deportation from distant countries who had passed illegally in the United States .
Last week, Panama received three US expulsion flights, transporting immigrants from countries to Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Such flights seem to be the new Trump administration tactic to tackle unauthorized immigrants from countries where it may not be easy to return, as the administration seeks to increase deportations. Instead of maintaining such immigrants at detention centers on the southern border, the administration is hiring other countries wishing to accept them, where it is not clear what will eventually happen to the deports.
While traveling through Central America and the Caribbean earlier this month, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio received assurances from various governments, including Panama and Costa Rica, that they were pledged to cooperate with Trump’s administration on immigration. But few details were offered.
In Monday’s announcement, Costa Rico’s government said the first team of liberals would reach a commercial flight on Wednesday afternoon.
Costa Rica said its territory would “serve as a bridge” for the return of immigrants to their countries of origin and that the repatriation process will “be fully funded by the US government under the supervision of the International Organization of Migration” Nations stated by Costa Rica will be responsible for the care of immigrants during their stay in the country. Panama described a similar procedure for the expulsion who sent there from the United States.
Representatives of the United Nations Organization in Costa Rica did not respond immediately to commentary request.
Following his arrival at the main airport served by San José, the capital, the departs will be transferred to a migratory shelter in the Corredores canton in the south of the country, Costa Rica said.
Costa Rican officials did not say how many immigrants expected that the United States would eventually send or how long they would stay to Costa Rica before being sent to their countries of origin.
Some time ago, Costa Rica faced how to deal with thousands of immigrants crossing their way to the US border. His shelters were full of people who, in many cases, had gone through the dangerous Darién Gap, between Colombia and Panama, to reach Central America.
Last year, the number of immigrants passing through Costa Rica has diminished dramatically as the United States, Mexico and Panama have toughen their borders and enhancing the imposition of immigration.
