US agrees to pay for flights, help Panama deport migrants to stop illegal border crossings

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, July 05, 2024

Migrants walk by the jungle near Bajo Chiquito village, the first border control of the Darien Province in Panama, on September 22, 2023. The clandestine journey through the Darien Gap usually lasts five or six days, at the mercy of all kinds of bad weather and cartels involved in human trafficking and drug smuggling . | Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration has agreed for the United States to help pay for flights and assist Panama's government with deporting migrants who cross the Darién Gap in response to the urgent need to stem illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border.

On Monday, the U.S. and Panama signed a memorandum of understanding during Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' official visit to attend the inauguration of the country's new President José Raúl Mulino.

Through the deal, the U.S. will help cover repatriation costs for migrants who illegally entered Panama through the Darién Gap, a 60-mile stretch of wilderness in Colombia and Panama often used by migrants traveling north to the U.S.

The deal is "designed to jointly reduce the number of migrants being cruelly smuggled through the Darien, usually en route to the United States," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

"By returning such individuals to their country of origin, we will help deter irregular migration in the region and at our Southern border, and halt the enrichment of malign smuggling networks that prey on vulnerable migrants," Watson said.

Last year, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders reported a surge in sexual assaults of migrants attempting to enter the U.S., suggesting that many of the assaults likely took place within the Darién Gap.

As the U.S. State Department announced Monday, under the initiative, the U.S. will dispatch officials through the Department of Homeland Security to assist with the asylum screening process and deportations. The State Department will also provide the funds for Panama to improve its ability to deport migrants.

According to the department, the goal of assisting the Panamanian government is to reduce the "unprecedented irregular migration through the Darien region," through which over 520,000 migrants transited in 2023.

"Irregular migration is a regional challenge that requires a regional response," Mayorkas said in a statement. "As the United States continues to secure our borders and remove individuals without a legal basis to remain, we are grateful for our partnership with Panama to manage the historic levels of migration across the Western Hemisphere."

The State Department is working with 21 partners throughout the region, abiding by the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, which establishes guidelines for humane migration policies.

The L.A. Declaration recognized the need for countries to coordinate to address unlawful migration, and it represents 22 countries navigating the challenges associated with migration in the current century.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken emphasized in a statement that irregular migration impacts multiple countries, asserting that regions throughout the Western Hemisphere are responsible for addressing it.

"Through the Los Angeles Declaration, we have taken meaningful steps to expand lawful migration pathways as an alternative to irregular migration, to improve enforcement efforts, to support host communities and to strengthen protections for members of vulnerable populations," Blinken stated.

The State Department cited President Joe Biden's executive action last month to temporarily suspend the entry of noncitizens attempting to cross the southern border. According to the department, Border Patrol's 7-day encounter average decreased more than 40%, and "the DHS has operated more than 120 international repatriation flights to more than 20 countries."

Last month, NBC reported that DHS officials said that some illegal migrants are still being released inside the U.S. to live there while they pursue asylum claims. Some sections of the border are also sending migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to Mexico instead of their home countries despite the administration's promises that the U.S. would deport anyone found ineligible for asylum.

The senior DHS official who spoke to the outlet lamented that Border Patrol will continue to release some border crossers into the U.S. unless it receives more money from Congress for more detention space and deportation flights. However, the official added that these types of releases appear to have fallen somewhat since Biden's executive action.

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman