Costa Rica receives first group of deported migrants under third-country agreement with US
By Alvaro Murillo
SAN JOSE, April 11 (Reuters) – Costa Rica on Saturday accepted the first group of immigrants from other countries deported from the United States under an agreement signed between the two countries in March, local officials said.
Costa Rica General Directorate of Immigration and Foreigners said that among the 25 immigrants were citizens of Albania, Cameroon, China, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya and Morocco.
“When migrants enter the country, they will receive first-line care services from the Professional Migration Police in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM),” the Costa Rican agency said in a statement. he said.
Under the agreement, Costa Rica will host up to 25 people per week, the United States will provide financial support, and IOM will provide food and lodging for the first seven days of migrants’ stay in the country.
The deal is part of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to accelerate his program of mass deportations, including sending immigrants to third countries that are not their countries of origin. The administration has said such third-country deportations are necessary to remove people whose home countries refuse to accept them.
But these deportations have been criticized by Democrats and human rights advocates because they leave immigrants stranded far from their homelands, often in countries where they do not speak the language or have any family ties.
In February, Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/democrats-say-trumps-foreign-deportation-deals-cost-taxpayers-millions-2026-02-13/ . This report stated that deportation agreements with foreign governments cost American taxpayers millions of dollars (sometimes more than $1 million per person). it is sent out of the country and provides little benefit.
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo in San Jose, Costa Rica, writing by Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey, Mexico)
