U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Cynthia Telles; the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas; and Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado signed an arrangement establishing reciprocal commitments to work collaboratively on migration and protection issues.
This arrangement seeks to generate options to strengthen Costa Rica’s Migration Police and Border Police in all their capacities, strengthen the fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking, and explore options to strengthen existing programs for the integration of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
The document was signed during Secretary Mayorkas’ visit to Costa Rica, when he met with representatives of the Costa Rican government, international organizations, and civil society representatives to discuss joint efforts to address the root causes of irregular migration, and regional efforts related to migration management. “We selected Costa Rica as the first partner and friend to sign such an important arrangement because of its leadership in matters that impact the region and, quite frankly, the world,” said Secretary Mayorkas.
During his one-day visit to Costa Rica, Secretary Mayorkas also met with representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Office for Migration (IOM) and visited the Refugee Unit of the Immigration and Immigration Office, the Los Lagos Migration Center and the Immigrant Social Rights Center (CENDEROS).
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Costa Rica for its leadership in protecting refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants and for helping to make border enforcement safer and more humane through this collaboration.
