Facing pressure from Trump, Costa Rica, Honduras join Panama as stopovers for foreign deportees

Costa Rica holds deportees from various countries as part of Trump administration's deportation strategy, raising human rights concerns.

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 (February 20, 2025), the first flight of deportees from other nations Costa Rica agreed to hold in detention facilities for the Trump administration while it organised the return back to their countries.

The flight of 135 deportees, half of them minors, added Costa Rica to a growing list of Latin American nations to serve as a stopover for migrants as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration seeks to step up deportations.

While Costa Rica joins Panama in holding deportees from mostly Asian origin until their repatriation can be arranged or they can seek protection somewhere, Honduras on Thursday also facilitated a handoff of deportees between the U.S. and Venezuela from a flight coming from Guantanamo Bay.

The migrants arriving in Costa Rica will be bused to a rural holding facility near the Panama border, where they will be detained up to six weeks and be flown back to their countries of origin, said Omer Badilla, Costa Rica's deputy minister of the interior and police. The U.S. government will cover the costs.

The arrangement is part of a deal the Trump administration struck with Costa Rica during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit earlier this month. It comes as Mr. Trump has pressured countries across the region to help facilitate deportations at times under the threat of steep tariffs or sanctions.

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves told reporters Wednesday that his country is helping its “economically powerful brother from the north.”

Similar agreements have been reached with other Latin American nations, but the concept of using third countries as deportation layovers has drawn strong criticism from human rights advocates.