Costa Rica has signed a new agreement with the United States that could make the Central American nation a regular stopover for migrants being expelled from U.S. territory, regardless of where those migrants are actually from. Under the memorandum of understanding, Washington may transfer up to 25 non-U.S. nationals per week to Costa Rican soil.
The deal was formalized during a visit by Kristi Noem, the former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security who now serves as special envoy for the so-called Shield of the Americas initiative. Noem said she was very proud to count Costa Rica among Washington’s partners in giving people in the U.S. illegally the opportunity to return to their home countries.
The Costa Rican government has framed the arrangement as one that preserves national sovereignty. Authorities say Costa Rica retains full discretion to accept or reject each individual case, and that once migrants arrive, they will receive temporary legal status while their situation is resolved under Costa Rican immigration law.
Financing will be managed by the United States, with the International Organization for Migration providing housing and food at no direct cost to Costa Rica. No estimates were given for the cost of room and board.
This is not the first time the Chaves administration has struck such a deal. Last year, the Trump administration sent 200 migrants to Costa Rica with plans to eventually repatriate them to their countries of origin. Those individuals were transferred to the Centro de Atención Temporal a Migrantes, or CATEM, a converted former pencil factory near the Panamanian border in Paso Canoas.
The episode drew sharp criticism here at home. Costa Rica’s National Torture Prevention Mechanism reported that migrants were effectively being held against their will and unable to leave the facility. A visit by the Legislative Assembly’s Human Rights Commission described conditions there as lamentable and sad, citing concerns about food, health, and the uncertainty migrants were enduring.
The legal fallout was significant. Last June, the Constitutional Chamber ruled in favor of a habeas corpus petition and ordered the release of around ten migrants held at CATEM. By November, the court was warning immigration officials they could face administrative proceedings if they failed to comply with the order to define the migrants’ legal status and release them.
More recently, earlier this month, Costa Rica deported 33 foreign nationals in a joint operation with U.S. authorities. It was the first coordinated mass deportation of its kind and involved individuals from Panama, India, China, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and Ecuador.
The new agreement fits into a larger regional framework. The Shield of the Americas, launched earlier this month, has been described by President Donald Trump as a military coalition of partner nations aligned with U.S. immigration enforcement goals. Noem told Costa Rican officials she believes the country will be a fundamental partner and leader in that effort.
Many in Costa Rica disagree, including former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, who has argued that the agreement violates the Constitution.
Critics and legal experts in Costa Rica are already questioning the arrangement’s compatibility with domestic law and the country’s human rights obligations. For our small nation that has long prided itself on neutrality and democratic values, its deepening role as a transit and detention point in the United States deportation system is proving deeply divisive.
