SAN JOSE (Reuters) -Migrants deported from the U.S. could be held in Costa Rica for up to six weeks before being sent to their home countries, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves said on Wednesday.
Costa Rica has agreed to receive 200 migrants from countries such as Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and India, starting on Thursday, Chaves said in a press conference.
“We’re helping our powerful economic brother in the north, because if (the U.S.) imposes a tax on our export zones, we’re screwed,” Chaves said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on a number of countries in the region since taking office in January, demanding collaboration on issues such as migration and drug trafficking to avoid them.
Costa Rica will accept the deportees at U.S. expense, Chaves said. The deportees will stay at a migrant shelter, unable to leave, before being flown to their respective countries.
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo;Editing By Bill Berkrot)
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