Q COSTA RICA — Costa Rica’s immigration authorities say they cannot remove groups of Venezuelan nationals who ask for money or sell products on public roads because many have pending asylum applications that grant them legal protection.
Omer Badilla, director of Costa Rica’s immigration service, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), said authorities encounter such groups daily in cities and other large urban areas. Some migrants have remained in Costa Rica after applying for refugee status, placing them under international protection while their cases are reviewed.
That status prevents officials from detaining them solely for the purpose of removing them from the country, Badilla explained.
“There is a group of Venezuelans who stayed in the country because they applied for, or are processing, an asylum request,” he said. “Legally, they are already protected, and we as authorities cannot carry out operations, pick them up and try to remove them from the country.”
Badilla said some people have made begging their primary means of support.
Immigration conducts regular operations alongside the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI)—National Child Welfare Agency—and the Fuerza Pública (National Police), particularly when children are present. Still, the groups frequently move between locations, making it difficult for authorities to maintain oversight.
Officials may have few options until each person’s immigration status is resolved, according to AmeliaRueda.com.
The lack of diplomatic relations between Costa Rica and Venezuela creates another obstacle. Costa Rican authorities cannot directly coordinate the return of Venezuelans who have irregular immigration status. Some lack identification documents, and Venezuelan authorities do not assist with the documentation process, Badilla said.
“We cannot, even if we want to, put them on a plane and take them to Venezuela,” he said, describing deportation as practically impossible because relations between the two countries are severed.
Migration through Costa Rica has fallen
The number of migrants passing through Costa Rica has dropped sharply from the levels recorded between 2022 and 2024, when thousands entered the country each week.
Migration patterns have also changed. Rather than continuing north, some people who did not reach the United States have begun returning toward South America after facing tighter U.S. entry restrictions. Authorities refer to the movement as “reverse migration.”
Badilla said the reverse flow has not produced a large or unmanageable movement through Costa Rica. Some migrants continue to enter the country while returning south, but coordination with Panama allows them to travel without crossing the Darién Gap again.
Venezuelans remain the largest nationality represented in migration flows through Costa Rica, though officials describe the current movement as controlled.
Official figures show that about 3,000 migrants entered or traveled through Costa Rica between January and late August 2025. That number includes only people recorded at regular immigration checkpoints and does not account for entries outside official border crossings.
Immigration is also monitoring migrant routes for suspected human trafficking, migrant smuggling and the activity of paid guides known as coyotes. Badilla said authorities open investigations and work to disrupt organized criminal groups involved in those offenses.
One of the government’s continuing concerns is that some migrants become stranded in Costa Rica rather than continuing their journeys. Among them are families and individuals who solicit money along roads while waiting for decisions on their legal status—leaving authorities to manage the situation without violating the protections attached to pending asylum claims.