After the ongoing news of ICE and deportations, the U.S. has been globally criticized for its ongoing methods to reduce illegal immigration.

Once work and student visas became insecure and the famous green card lottery for incoming immigrants was suspended, a new reality of harsher borders was solidified for the U.S.

Recent news has come through the wire, however, as neighboring countries have notified the U.S. government of their wish to step in and help.

As of March 23, President Rodrigo Chaves of Costa Rica and former Secretary of Homeland Security, Noem Kristi, had met and signed an agreement where the country of Costa Rica promised to accept a number of migrants rejected by the American border.

The deal was made for multiple purposes and with multiple conditions, whereas the country of Costa Rica could handpick which migrants were allowed to come into its borders. A flexible number of 25 per week was said to be used to trial the deal, and it was done with the hopes of creating better relations with the U.S. government.

“We are very proud to have partners like [Rodrigo Chaves] and Costa Rica, who are working to ensure that people who are in our country illegally have the opportunity to return to their countries of origin,” Noem said after the deal had been signed.

Noem was sent as a special envoy from President Donald Trump for the new coalition, Shield of the Americas, which held its first summit in Florida at the beginning of the month.

This “brand-new military coalition” is meant to “eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region,” President Trump said during the first summit. 

He reported that the U.S. military was “knocking the hell out of them, where we can and we’re going to go heavier.” Looking at the 17 regional leaders that have joined this new coalition, he said: “We need your help, you have to—just tell us where they are.”

President Chávez said that the deal was entirely voluntary and that it would require help from both the U.S. and Costa Rica. The U.S. and the International Organization for Immigrations department was said to cover the financial burden of moving the immigrants to Costa Rica; housing and meals were going to be covered by a United Nations agency.

Critiques have been made in the past of similar efforts that the Costa Rican government made last year, when 200 U.S.-bound immigrants were accepted into the country for asylum.

However, though it was a noble agreement, the conditions with which the migrants were treated led to the ultimate decision of either letting them stay in Costa Rica with special refugee status or having them leave to return to their home countries.

“If the person has a well-founded fear of returning to their country, we will never send them back,” Omer Badilla, director for Costa Rica’s migration authority, said. “We will protect them.”

Though Badilla had initially disputed the deportees’ claims for the less-than-preferred conditions of living that the migrants had to first go through, he was then scolded by Costa Rica’s ombudsman.

This time around, the country of Costa Rica seems more prepared to help the distressed individuals that come from places as far as Asian, African and Eastern European countries.

“Costa Rica is prepared to see this flow of people,” Mario Zamora Cordero, the Costa Rican minister of public security, said