Costa Rica has signed an initial agreement with the United States to accept deportees from other countries. A statement from the Costa Rican government reported by Reuters said the United States will “put forth the necessary financial support” for the endeavor.
Earlier this month, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted the administration’s emergency request to pause the order from U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, who had ruled that DHS’s third-country removal process was unconstitutional and violated due process protections.
The case involves migrants facing deportation to South Sudan, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Murphy has been overseeing the class-action lawsuit for months and has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration. In May, he accused the administration of failing to comply with a court order that required six migrants deported to South Sudan to be returned to U.S. custody, saying they had been removed without proper process.
Laura Fernández, a conservative, recently won Costa Rica’s presidential election.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Fernández, stating that under her leadership “Costa Rica will continue to advance shared priorities to include combatting narco-trafficking, ending illegal immigration to the United States, promoting cybersecurity and secure telecommunications, and strengthening economic ties.”
“The United States looks forward to working closely with President-Elect Laura Fernández Delgado’s administration to deepen our enduring partnership and promote shared prosperity in our hemisphere,” Rubio added.
In her victory speech, Fernández noted that change will be “deep and irreversible.” She later vowed to “fight tirelessly” to ensure the country “continues on the path of economic growth, freedom, and above all, the progress of our people.”
