Venezuelan migrants handed over to Mexico like it’s a U.S. immigration detention facility. Families from Central Asia flown to Panama and Costa Rica to await voluntary repatriation to their countries. Venezuelans from Guantanamo Bay handed off on a Honduran tarmac and returned to Caracas.
It all sends the unmistakable message that trying to get to the U.S. border is no longer worth it. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has laid the groundwork to reverse the region’s migration flow. And while the numbers remain modest, an outline of how the U.S. hopes to overcome limited detention space as it gears up its deportation machine is emerging.
