4,000 illegal migrants (African and Chinese, mostly) entered Costa Rica between April and this date. However, half the group presumably left the country in an attempt to reach North America. It is thought that they did it with the help of migrant smuggling networks.
This was suspected by Migration Office.
It is very likely because they don’t have legal documents so they can’t cross the border through migratory posts. We don’t know if they left by sea or land,
said Gladys Jiménez, Migration Office director.
To cross the border with the so-called “coyotes” doesn’t guarantee anything. In the journey people are swindled, abandoned and exposed to abuse. In addition, the networks charge between 7 to 25 thousand dollars without warranty of stepping on U.S. soil.
More than 2,000 migrants remain in the country and they are divided between Paso Canoas and Peñas Blancas. According to Migration Office, most of them arrive without documents, and that forced authorities to change the procedure to better handle the cases. Now they must sign a document every 15 days since they can’t be apprehended: they are given a document so that they can be free until their situation is solved.