Costa Rica Moves to Deport 56 Cuban Migrants

Authorities in Costa Rica have begun deportation proceedings for 56 Cuban migrants who entered that Central American nation after it stopped issuing special transit visas for Cubans who are trying to get to the United States.

Costa Rican Immigration Director Kathya Rodriguez said Saturday that the 56 Cubans are being held in the capital city of San Jose.

They are not among the approximately 8,000 Cubans who have been stranded in Costa Rica since Nov. 13, when Nicaragua began rejecting Cubans from crossing its territory. Costa Rica stopped giving out transit visas to Cubans on Dec. 18.

Thousands of Cubans had been migrating through Central America in fear that the year-old warming in U.S.-Cuban relations could end the special immigration privileges Cubans have in the United States.