Central America Agrees to House Deported Migrants After Trump Declares U.S. ‘Won’t Be a Doormat’

To help the U.S. deport illegal immigrants, the Trump administration made agreements with Latin American nations. Migrants were shipped and then held in several Central American Countries.

“Trump’s no longer letting the U.S. be treated like a doormat,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, stated.

Multiple reports have been published over the past week detailing Donald Trump’s deportation push. The Associated Press reported that the U.S. has made deals with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and Mexico to allow it to relocate migrants from the southern border.

According to an article in The Guardian, the move caused Central America to become “a dumping ground for migrants”, pointing to countries like Panama and Costa Rica, who have accepted migrants from the Middle East and Asia.

According to The Guardian, Trump “strong-armed” Central American countries to follow his rules in many instances, using threats such as threatening to take back the Panama Canal and impose tariffs.

The Guardian reported that Marcela Martino is the deputy director for Central America and Mexico at the Center for Justice and International Law.

The report states that Panama was the country that first agreed to a deal in February with Trump. Since then, hundreds of migrants have come from Afghanistan, Iran, China, and Pakistan.

Some migrants agreed to return to their countries of origin, but 128 out of 299 who were received by Panama refused. The Guardian reports that this refusal puts the migrants into a “legal limbo” as they are temporarily held in Panama City hotels.

Ries noted that while some critics raised questions about the legality or conditions of deportation, many of these countries hosted migrants in the opposite direction under former president Joe Biden’s tenure.

Ries stated, “Many of these nations viewed the U.S. a dump as they allowed millions of migrants to cross their borders just to get to the U.S. You know we are a sovereign country, and sovereign nations have the right to decide who can come here, in what numbers, on what conditions, and by when. Migrants do not choose this.”

Ries said that Trump’s deportation agreements are an example of Trump using American leverage. This was not the case under Biden’s leadership.

Ries said that the U.S. had leverage over other countries. Our last president did not use this and treated our country as a doormat. He let in millions of people. The current president has chosen to utilize that leverage over other countries.

Ries said that the agreements could also serve as a disincentive for migrants who are considering heading to the North and countries that have granted them entry in the past four years. He argued that the countries were capable of protecting their borders.

Ries stated, “They are perfectly capable and should defend themselves. Preventing mass migration is the best way to prevent these problems.”