In deporting Asians to Central America, Trump is strong-arming weaker nations, policy experts say

Dozens of mostly Asian migrants were put on a deportation flight on Thursday. But instead of landing near their home countries, the plane arrived in San José, Costa Rica.

Dozens of mostly Asian migrants were put on a deportation flight from San Antonio on Tuesday. But instead of landing near their home countries, the migrants eventually arrived in the Costa Rican capital of San José, where they were then shuttled off to the southern part of the country to await their fates. 

The flight is among the latest in a series of U.S. deportations that have made a stopover in Central America, with Panama similarly serving as a bridge in recent weeks. Immigration and legal researchers said the Trump administration has pressured these countries to take in undocumented migrants, particularly those who are from countries like China and India that have been traditionally more reluctant to accept people back. 

Immigration and legal researchers and advocates say political and economic pressures from the Trump administration have strong-armed Panama and Costa Rica into repatriation agreements, making them a stopover for the U.S. in the deportation process. They mention the new method allows the other countries to bear the brunt of processing the migrants, and removes them from protections under U.S. law. 

Migrants deported from the United States enter Catem shelter in Corredores, Puntarenas province, Costa Rica, on Friday.Patricio Bianchi / AFP - Getty ImagesThe practice marks a “new world,” policy advisers and immigration groups say, in which the administration is attempting to make less-powerful nations help in its mass deportation operation, based on threats of tariffs or a potential use of force. 

“They are coercing nations who are at a much greater socioeconomic disadvantage than the United States, so they feel forced to accept migrants,” said Razeen Zaman, director of immigrant rights at nonprofit Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “It is extremely disappointing and alarming that other countries are now … acting as Border Patrol agents themselves.”