(Image source from: Ndtv.com)
In a move reflecting similar actions by Panama and Guatemala, Costa Rica announced on Monday that it would accept illegal migrants deported from the United States who hold nationalities from other countries. The presidential office of the Central American nation issued a statement indicating that 200 migrants from Central Asia and India are expected to arrive on a commercial flight from the United States on Wednesday. The announcement explained that "the Government of Costa Rica has agreed to partner with the United States for the repatriation of 200 illegal immigrants back to their homeland," specifying that "these individuals are from... Central Asia and India." The first group of those deported by the US is set to land in Costa Rica on Wednesday, after which they will be taken to a Temporary Migrant Care Center located near the Panama border.
Following this process, the migrants will be sent back to their countries of origin. Costa Rica clarified that "the entire procedure will be fully funded" by the US government, with oversight from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This collaboration makes Costa Rica the third Central American nation to agree to assist with the repatriation of migrants expelled from the United States since Donald Trump took office in Washington on January 20. Previously, Panama and Guatemala had established similar agreements during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent Latin American tour. Last week, Panama welcomed its first repatriation flight, which carried 119 migrants from countries including China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, according to officials from Panama. As of now, no deportees have arrived in Guatemala.
According to an AFP report, most of the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States originally come from Latin America. Many undertook perilous journeys, confronting dangerous landscapes, wildlife, and criminal organizations in pursuit of a more promising future. In contrast, during last year's election campaign, Trump took a stringent stance against undocumented immigration, labeling some as "monsters" and "animals." On his first day in office last month, he declared a national emergency at the southern US border and pledged to deport "millions and millions" of migrants.
