Costa Rica expressed agreement to receive foreign migrants who are deported from the U.S., joining neighboring Panama and Guatemala. This step is being documented in the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the deportation of illegal migrants from his country. The presidency of the Central American country announced yesterday that "the government of Costa Rica has agreed to work with the United States regarding the return of 200 illegal migrants to their country".
They will be deported from the U.S. and come from Central Asia and India, after which they will be sent back to their homeland. According to the Costa Rican president's statement, the first group of these deported migrants will arrive in San Jose today on a commercial flight. They will be transferred to a temporary reception center 360 kilometers from San Jose.
The presidency of Costa Rica emphasized that "the entire operation will be fully financed" by the U.S. government under the observation of the International Organization for Migration. During his previous campaign, Trump promised to "start the largest deportation program in the history of America" regarding illegal migrants, prepared to deploy armed forces if necessary.
Since the return on January 20 of last year, the administration of the Republican president has organized the deportation of a large number of illegal immigrants, including airline flights, some of which resulted in landings at a U.S. military base in Guantanamo on Cuba. Costa Rica has become the third country in Central America after Panama and Guatemala, which agreed to be a transit point for deported foreign migrants from the U.S.
Trump confirmed at a meeting with Republicans in Florida last month that "all new illegal migrants caught at the border will be deported", warning their countries of the undesirability of their return. He also indicated a willingness to deploy troops to the southern regions of the U.S. to support border patrol in fighting illegal immigration.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for the past year, a small portion of migrants arriving at the border had criminal records, and most of them were flagged for non-violent offenses, such as driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal border crossing.
