President José Raúl Mulino of Panama campaigned on a promise to “close” the Darién Gap, the dangerous stretch of jungle which more than half a million migrants crossed last year on their way north from South America.
The US is paying for Panama to start repatriating undocumented migrants to their country of origin, rather than allowing them pass through on the way to the US Mexico border. Their flights are paid for by the US government.
The Biden administration said it had agreed to pay for the flights as part of its efforts to deter irregular migration.
A group of 29 Colombians with criminal records were the first to be returned within days.
Under an agreement jointly signed by the Panamanian foreign minister and US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the US has committed to helping Panama with $6m for equipment, transportation and logistics to “remove foreign nationals who do not have a legal basis to remain in Panama”.
Context: The US does not repatriate illegal migrants who are captured here. Instead, we assign immigration court dates years into the future. Then they are released with debit cards and transportation to relocate anywhere in the US interior.
Should the US stop paying for the repatriation efforts in Panama, and use those resources to repatriate illegal migrants who make it to the US?