The United States is quietly preparing to bankroll deportations—only this time, the removals won’t be from its own soil. A government document reveals a plan to funnel nearly \$8 million to Costa Rica to assist in ejecting migrants from its territory, reviving a controversial strategy of outsourcing immigration enforcement to foreign governments.
The funds—up to \$7.85 million—will be rerouted from the State Department’s economic support budget, typically reserved for development aid. But instead of building schools or roads, this money will land in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which will partner with Costa Rican officials to expel migrants from the small Central American country.
While officials say the project is aimed at helping Costa Rica deal with those merely *passing through* on their journey north, the fine print leaves more questions than answers. The document doesn’t detail when deportations will begin or where the deportees will end up. Nor does it clarify who exactly will be on the receiving end of these one-way tickets.
This Costa Rica initiative mimics a 2024 deal Washington struck with Panama, where U.S. dollars funded detention and deportation operations targeting migrants trekking north from Colombia. That move drew fire from rights groups and Democratic lawmakers alike, who warned that offloading migration enforcement to third countries undermines asylum protections.
Now, with U.S. border policies tightened under the Trump administration’s return to power, the Costa Rica arrangement appears to be an extension of that philosophy—less “Build the Wall” and more “Pay Your Neighbor to Do It.”
Earlier this year, Costa Rica agreed to temporarily house 200 migrants from Africa, Asia, and Europe who had been in the U.S. unlawfully. Those individuals were supposed to be returned to their countries of origin—but many are still stranded in Costa Rica.
The State Department says the new effort will “build capacity” for Costa Rica to manage its borders and “screen asylum claims.” But behind the buzzwords lies a more blunt reality: logistical support, air transport, and technical advice to streamline deportations.
This evolving migration chessboard reflects a broader regional trend. Migration through Panama’s infamous Darién Gap has plummeted, but flows in the opposite direction—migrants leaving Central America and heading south—are now being noticed, particularly among Venezuelans disillusioned by Washington’s hardened stance and the dismantling of Biden-era parole policies.
The Costa Rican government has stayed conspicuously silent. Questions directed to key ministries were rerouted to the president’s office and foreign affairs department, which offered no response.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been busy on a Latin America tour, holding closed-door meetings in Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, and Chile—all part of a possible regional web of deportation deals still in the making.
In the end, this isn’t just about who gets deported. It’s about who pays—and who decides.
