Costa Rica joins the United States Safe Mobility plan to process asylum immigrants from Nicaragua and Venezuela
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Costa Rica joined the United States Safe Mobility plan to process immigrants from Venezuela and Nicaragua who need to apply asylum in the United States.
The governments of Costa Rica and the United States agreed to open possible legal avenues of immigration to the United States for some of the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants, among the 240,000 asylum seekers already awaiting asylum in the Central American country, through the program Safe Mobility.
The governments of the United States and Costa Rica did not provide details on what the legal pathways might be in the communiqué of both governments published Monday by the US State Department.
The State Department said the six-month pilot program could speed up refugee processing, as well as other humanitarian and employment options for those interested in entering the US.
“In the first two months of the exploratory phase, only eligible individuals will be contacted to schedule an assessment appointment at a Safe Mobility office in Costa Rica to assess whether they are qualified candidates for legal pathways to the United States or other countries,” the statement says.
After the first two months, eligible migrants must make an appointment through the website MovilidadSegura.org.
The objective is to facilitate that migrants from Venezuela and Nicaragua registered in Costa Rica as asylum seekers have access to legal channels to reach the United States and other countries.
However, it was agreed that all migrants who enter Costa Rica irregularly from now on will be deported to their countries of origin, and those who enter US territory without permission will also be deported and could face a ban from five years to return to the United States.
The United States government is seeking ways to safely and humanely manage the flow of migrants toward its southern border and has increasingly strengthened cooperation with southern governments along the route of immigration.
Since January, the US began offering parole to up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans a month who apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive by air.