The Trump administration has been shipped and detained to several Central American countries to support the US efforts to deport immigrants who have illegally entered the country across Latin America.
“Trump is no longer trying to treat the United States like a doormat,” Lora Reese, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Patrol and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital.
Comments show that last week’s reporting shows President Donald Trump is pushing for deportation, and the Associated Press reports that the administration has attacked transactions with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela.
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This division shows President Trump and immigration on the tropical border. (John Moore/Getty Images and Jim Law Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The move has made Central America a “dumping ground” for immigrants, according to a Guardian report pointing to countries such as Panama and Costa Rica, which employ immigrants from the Middle East and Asia.
The Guardian reported that Trump is often “strong and attractive” Central American countries to play with his rules, using fears such as threats to reclaim the Panama Canal or impose tariffs.
“It is clear that there is a new connection to this issue that requires a situation in a country that is not in a position to reject,” Marcela Martino, deputy director of Central America and Mexico, the Center for Judiciary and International Law, told the Guardian.
Panama was the first country to agree to a deal with Trump in mid-February, and has since taken on hundreds of migrants from places such as Afghanistan, Iran, China and Pakistan.
Some of these immigrants agreed to be returned to their home country, while 128 of the 299 immigrants received by Panama refused. The refusal placed the immigrants in the form of “legal scope,” the Guardian reported, pointing to a virus photo showing young Iranian migrants scrawled “help” in the windows of a hotel in Panama City where the migrants were held temporarily.
Looking out the window at the Dekapolis Hotel, a temporary stay in Panama City on February 18, 2025, the migrants were deported from a US gesture.
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While some critics have raised concerns about the legality of deportation programs and the situation facing immigrants, Reese noted that many of these same countries have served as hosts of immigrants who flow in a different direction during former President Joe Biden’s term.
“Many of these countries saw the US as a garbage dump to allow millions of immigrants to cross their country to go to the US,” Reese said. “And you know, we are sovereign states, and sovereign states have the right to choose who will come here, under what conditions and when they must leave. Immigrants don’t choose that.”
Lease argued that Trump’s move to introduce deportation transactions was an example of a president using American leverage.
“The US has leverage with other countries, and our last president doesn’t use it, again treating our country like a doormat, letting millions put people in,” Lease argued. “The current president has chosen to use that leverage with regard to these other countries.”
US President Donald Trump (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Image) on the Southern Lawn of the White House before riding a Marine in Washington, DC on Friday, February 28, 2025.
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Ries said another benefit of the deal could serve as a deterrent for both migrants who are thinking of heading north over the past four years they allowed them to pass.
“They can and should be protected completely by their boundaries,” Reese said. “It prevents a lot of travel in the first place and prevents many of these consequences.”
Michael Lee is a Fox News writer. Before joining Fox News, Michael worked for Washington examiners, Bongino.com, and for the impartial US. He has covered politics for over eight years.
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