Schmidtke & Pérez Tümmler, ‘Left in Limbo: Emerging Challenges for Third Country Nationals Forcibly Transferred by the United States to Costa Rica’, 2026

Rachel Schmidtke  and Natasha Pérez Tümmler, ‘Left in Limbo: Emerging Challenges for Third Country Nationals Forcibly Transferred by the United States to Costa Rica’, Refugees International/Global Strategic Litigation Council, 2026

Abstract

During the second Trump administration, the United States has increasingly used third country deportation agreements to shift its responsibility to protect asylum seekers and refugees to other countries. However, most of these countries are not effectively protecting the third country nationals they receive pursuant to the agreements. Costa Rica has been one of largest recipients of forcibly transferred third-country nationals, with an agreement to receive up to 25 people per week from the United States. Costa Rica’s strong tradition of humane treatment of displaced people and respect for their human rights makes it a useful test case for whether these deportation arrangements can be reconciled with human rights standards – and our research demonstrates that the answer is a resounding no. Even in Costa Rica, third-country deportees are denied their rights, unable to access adequate documentation, separated from family, and left in an uncertain limbo about their future, damaging their mental health. They are left in a system that seems oriented to provide only temporary solutions to a growing number of people who cannot return home and may stay in Costa Rica long-term.

…

This report identifies emerging challenges Refugees International and the Global Strategic Litigation Council (GSLC) have observed through interviews conducted with individuals forcibly transferred to Costa Rica in the spring and summer of 2026. These challenges include: 1) inability to access asylum in the United States 2) family separation from spouses and minor children; 3) lack of clear and accessible information in Costa Rica; and; 4) lack of documentation necessary to effectively integrate in Costa Rica.

The report includes recommendations addressed to the Costa Rican authorities and representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to undertake concrete measures to protect the rights of individuals forcibly transferred to Costa Rica and to ensure that the State complies with its obligations under national and international law.