Costa Rica and Honduras join Panama as stopovers for foreign deportees

A plane carrying migrants from Central Asia and India who were deported from the United States arrives at Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, Feb. 20, 2025. Security personnel approach a plane carrying migrants from Central Asia and India who were deported from the United States at Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, Feb. 20, 2025.

A group of families and children hailing from Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan, Russia and more countries climbed down the stairs of an airplane in Costa Rica's capital Thursday, the first flight of deportees from other nations Costa Rica agreed to hold in detention facilities for the Trump administration while it organized the return back to their countries.