On a U.S. deportation flight of 135 mostly Asian migrants to Costa Rica, half will be minors [View all]
Source: NBC News
Feb. 19, 2025, 7:06 PM EST
A deportation flight leaving the U.S. Thursday carrying 135 mostly Asian undocumented migrants is expected to land in Costa Rica in the afternoon. Almost half of the migrants will be children. The migrants, heading from San Diego to San Jose, hail from China, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, among other countries. Sixty five minors and at least two pregnant women are among the deportees, Omer Badilla, Costa Rica’s deputy minister of the interior and police, told Noticias Telemundo on Wednesday.
Some of the migrants’ home countries have not easily accepted to repatriate them. In the meantime, Costa Rica serves as a “bridge” for them, the U.S. government has said. The deportation flight is the latest headed to Central America, as some 300 people — also from mostly Asian countries — are being held in a Panama hotel.
Badilla said Costa Rica agreed to accept the migrants “because of our history and our customs as human rights protectors,” and that the agreement with the Trump administration isn’t based on any special conditions. “We responded to the United States’ government’s request and we raised our hand to help them,” Badilla said. Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves said during a press conference Wednesday that the country is helping its “economically powerful brother from the north.”
“If they impose a tax in our free zones, it’ll screw us,” Chaves said. “I don’t think they’ll do it, thank God ... love is repaid with love ... 200 will come, we treat them well and they will leave.” The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. The flight to Costa Rica is also carrying migrants from Tajikistan, Vietnam, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Badilla said. None of the migrants have criminal records but are undocumented, he said.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/us-deportation-flight-costa-rica-asian-migrants-san-jose-rcna192902
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