The United States will be able to send about 25 migrants from third countries to Costa Rica each week, according to an agreement signed on Monday, March 23 between the two countries in San Jose. The agreement was signed by Kristi Noem, Washington’s special commissioner for Latin America and previously the Minister of the Interior, with the Costa Rican President, Rodrigo Chaves, in the presence of the president-elect, Laura Fernández, who will succeed him on May 8.
Known for the massive expulsion policy of immigrants under Donald Trump, Kristi Noem was thanked on March 6 after parliamentary hearings following the deaths in January in Minneapolis of two American citizens killed by federal police, one of them by immigration police (ICE). Her successor, Markwayne Mullin, was confirmed by the Senate on Monday.
According to Rodrigo Chaves, Costa Rica appears once again as “an ally of the United States on important issues.” “This is a voluntary agreement, in which we could refuse anyone, not accept certain nationalities, but collaborate while respecting the human rights of our country,” he added.
An official statement indicates that the migrants will receive a temporary legal status while their situation is being studied, without specifying the conditions or where they will be housed. Costa Rica had already accepted some 200 migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia expelled by the United States last year, sparking strong criticism from human rights organizations as they were detained for several months in an isolated accommodation center on the border with Panama.
Kristi Noem had previously visited the Dominican Republic and Honduras, where she met with the respective leaders, Luis Abinader and Nasry Asfura, as a special commissioner in the framework of the “Shield of the Americas” alliance with several Latin American countries announced by Donald Trump at the beginning of March, aimed at combating drug trafficking.
