MEXICO CITY 鈥� Central American countries have long taken back their own citizens deported from the United States. But now the Trump administration has called on them to take in people from other countries around the world as well.
The extraordinary measures involved in these deportations 鈥� hundreds of migrants whisked away by plane without knowing their destinations and bused to isolated shelters 鈥� have shifted attention to Panama and Costa Rica and to how President Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdown is playing out far beyond U.S. borders.
So far, the number of migrants from elsewhere deported to Central America is still small, and it remains unclear if it will grow. Regional leaders largely say they are actively cooperating with the United States or have downplayed the significance of the deportations. However, analysts warn that these leaders have been backed into a corner with the threat of tariffs and that any increase in deportation flights could eventually push Central America to its limits.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e powerless to do anything,鈥� said Christopher Sabatini, a senior research fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, a research institute in London. 鈥淎nd we saw with President Petro of Colombia the consequences if you resist: sanctions against diplomatic personnel, loss of visa rights, as well as tariffs.鈥�
This month, the Trump administration sent three military planes carrying roughly 300 migrants 鈥� mostly from Asia and the Middle East 鈥� to Panama. Days later, a flight carrying 135 people, nearly half of them children and including dozens of people from China, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, landed in Costa Rica.
The migrants, who U.S. authorities say illegally crossed the southern border, are to remain in the custody of local authorities until they can be returned to their countries or secure asylum somewhere else.
Sending them to other countries removes many of the hurdles that Trump faced during his first term in trying to curb illegal immigration, according to analysts.
It helps alleviate overcrowding in U.S. detention facilities by removing people from countries like China, Afghanistan and Iran, where a lack of diplomatic relations with the United States makes deportations particularly challenging.
Additionally, the immediate removal of migrants allows the United States to sidestep international legal obligations to offer people who may face life-threatening conditions in their home countries the opportunity to ask for asylum.
Swift deportations also allow the administration to avoid another notably thorny obstacle that Trump ran into during his first term: Under U.S. law, authorities are not permitted to hold children in detention for more than 20 days, regardless of whether they are with their parents. Of the migrants deported to Central America so far, a large proportion have been families with children.
Publicly, leaders across Central America 鈥� clearly worried about the possibility of retribution if they defy the United States 鈥� are rejecting the idea that they are being coerced to accept these migrants.
In Panama, officials are characterizing themselves as fully engaged partners on migration. This commitment follows a surge that destabilized the region in recent years, as hundreds of thousands of people crossed into Panama through the Dari茅n Gap, the perilous jungle corridor between Colombia and Panama.
Costa Rica, for its part, has sought to downplay its decision to take in people from distant countries. Officials say it was a one-time request from the U.S. government that involves a negligible number of people. They shrugged off the flight of deportees in a news conference last week, lumping the arrivals in with other migrants who have begun trickling south as the United States and Mexico harden the border.
Still, President Rodrigo Chaves of Costa Rica was frank about his government鈥檚 motivation in receiving the migrants: 鈥淲e are helping the economically powerful brother from the north,鈥� he told a crowd last week, 鈥渨ho, if he puts a tax on the free trade zones, will wreck us.鈥�
Analysts say it is likely that more countries in the region will receive deportees from other countries. Officials in El Salvador and Guatemala have already said that they were willing.
鈥淭he biggest problem facing regional governments willing to do Trump鈥檚 deportation business is that they must walk the tightrope,鈥� said John Feeley, a former U.S. ambassador to Panama. They have to present themselves as 鈥渉umanitarian, rule-of-law societies,鈥� he said, even as they stand to look like 鈥渃ruel henchmen鈥� of the Trump administration.
Costa Rica and Panama have said that along with food, clean water and medical care, the migrants are being given the chance to apply for asylum with the help of United Nations agencies. Local officials have been adamant that they are not sending migrants back to countries where they say they face grave danger.
Panamanian officials have also said that they are not acting under threat.
鈥淭here is no quid pro quo, no threats,鈥� Carlos Ruiz-Hern谩ndez, Panama鈥檚 vice foreign minister, said in an interview. He added that the negotiation with the administration over the Panama Canal 鈥� which Trump has claimed to be under Chinese control 鈥� is 鈥渃ompartmentalized鈥� from the agreement to take in migrants deported by the United States.
Accepting the migrant flights is an expansion of an agreement made last summer between Panama and the United States to work together to curb migration, starting at the Dari茅n Gap, Ruiz-Hern谩ndez said.
Panamanian officials have also countered the claim by lawyers there that it is illegal under Panamanian law for the government to detain people for longer than 24 hours without a court order. In the context of immigration, the government legally has 鈥渂roader powers鈥� to detain people while their migration status is being settled, Ruiz-Hern谩ndez said.
But the government will likely face pushback.
Images like those that appeared in The New York Times, of a migrant from Iran pressed against a hotel window in Panama City, writing 鈥淗ELP鈥� on the glass, vaulted Panama into the limelight.
Days later, Costa Rica came under similar scrutiny when the country鈥檚 ombudsman鈥檚 office released a report saying that the migrants deported from the United States had arrived in a state of 鈥渧isible distress.鈥�
Many did not even know which country they were in, the report said.
Analysts say it is not clear if these Central American nations are getting much in return for their cooperation with the new U.S. deportation approach.
鈥淭he truth is, Trump鈥檚 not offering them anything,鈥� said Sabatini, the Latin America expert. 鈥淣ot development assistance, not international investment.鈥�
Rather, the incentive for cooperation, Sabatini said, appears to be safeguarding their economies against reprisals by Trump, who has shown he is willing to mete out high tariffs, even on close allies.
In the climate of fear around Trump, appeasement and trying to maintain access seems to be Latin America鈥檚 response for the time being, Sabatini added.
S. Fitzgerald Haney, a former U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica, said the Trump administration鈥檚 strategy for dealing with leaders in the region was shaping up to be unpredictable.
鈥淎t times they鈥檒l be sticks and at times it鈥檒l be carrots,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut they really want to address security at our southern border.鈥�
This article originally appeared in . 漏 2025 The New York Times
