What Trump’s Deportation Plans Mean for Central America

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 — hundreds of migrants whisked away by plane without knowing their destinations and bused to isolated shelters — have shifted attention to Panama and Costa Rica and to how Trump’s 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.

“They’re powerless to do anything,” said Christopher Sabatini, a senior research fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, a research institute in London. “And we saw with President Petro of Colombia the consequences if you resist: sanctions against diplomatic personnel, loss of visa rights, as well as tariffs.”