Costa Rican human rights advocates speak out as the U.S. resumes deportation flights

Advocates speak with detained people through a fence in Costa Rica, April 2025

SAN JOSE (April 15, 2026) This weekend the Trump Administration resumed deportation flights to Costa Rica. Following an agreement made in late March, the U.S. is paying Costa Rica to take as many as 25 people every week who have been forcibly removed from the U.S. - despite the fact that they are not Costa Rican citizens and most have no ties at all to the country.

"By accepting these individuals without asking questions, Costa Rica undermines its humanist principles and becomes complicit in the cruel immigration policies of the United States," said Marcia Aguiluz Soto, Latin America Regional Director for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). "Authorities use euphemisms and frame their actions as humanitarian assistance, but this is not the case. It is totally inadequate to provide only one week of basic necessities to people who have endured the trauma of detention and deportation in the U.S. and now find themselves in a country they have no connection to and likely don't speak the language."

Costa Rica made a similar agreement with the U.S. in 2025, when 200 people were detained in the U.S., sent to Costa Rica, and deprived of their liberty for months in a migrant detention center. Some were only released when the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica ordered their release and ordered the State to pay damages. Marcia Aguiluz Soto was part of a delegation permitted to visit the detention center where victims of the previous "third country" deportations were held and documented several serious human rights violations.

Working to end "third country" deportations is one part of AFSC's efforts to end cruel and violent immigration policies in the U.S. and instead institute welcoming and humane policies.

"We know that our communities are stronger with immigrants, yet the U.S. continues on its path of tearing people from their loved ones and refusing to honor its obligations to people seeking protection," said Amy Gottlieb, U.S. Migration Director for AFSC. "Forcibly transferring people to countries where they have no ties is immoral, unnecessary, and a violation of their basic rights. The Trump Administration is using immigrants as pawns and negotiating tools rather than human beings. These policies must be reversed immediately."

AFSC and other organizations will continue to call on Costa Rica and the United States to comply with their national and international human rights obligations, honor the rights of migrants, and end the practice of "third country" deportations. They are also calling on the Costa Rican government to provide information about their agreement with the United States and allow civil society to play a role in shaping public policy.

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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.