The President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis said Monday that his country has received nearly $1 million from the United States to take care of an immigration influx.
President Solis said that the migration crisis in Central America is “here to stay.” He added, “the phenomenon of migration is not going away.”
Many of the immigrants pouring into Costa Rica are from other Central America countries, Cuba and Haiti. Speaking at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C, Solis pointed out that Costa Rica is also receiving a lot of “extra-continental” immigrants.
Primarily these immigrants are from African countries, but Solis mentioned that his country has received some as well from Pakistan. The nearly million dollars Costa Rica received from the U.S is going to be used to “install camps” in the northern part of Costa Rica. President Solis mentioned that at one point there were more Cuban immigrants in the northern Costa Rican town of La Cruz than Costa Rican residents.
American immigration laws allow for Cuban immigrants to receive asylum in the United States. The U.S announced in July a partnership with Costa Rica that would would house refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in Costa Rica. These refugees would be “pre-screened” in their home country before going to Costa Rica and they would evenutually be resettled in the United States or possibly another country.