US, Panama Sign Deal to Curb Migration Through Darien Gap

Facts

• Panama has announced a deal with Washington to send migrants illegally crossing the Darien Gap to reach the US back to their homelands, as a US delegation visited the country for the inauguration of Pres. José Raúl Mulino on Monday.¹
• Under their memorandum of understanding, the US has agreed to cover the costs of repatriation and to provide Panama with 'equipment, transportation, and logistics' for handling illegal migrants.²
• This comes as Mulino pledged to close the Darien Gap, a remote area between Colombia and Panama that has become a popular migration route in recent years, shortly after his electoral victory in May.³
• Meanwhile, in the US, the Biden administration has been under pressure during a presidential election year amid accusations of failing to stem the flow of immigration and ensure border security.⁴
• Over 520K northbound migrants are said to have passed through the Darien Gap last year, even as Panama and the US launched a 60-day campaign to curb illegal migration in April 2023.⁵
• At least 170K passed through the jungle region in the first five months of 2024, most of them from Venezuela. Migrants making the journey, usually to the US, were also from other South American nations, China, and India.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²CNN, ³FOX News, ⁴Sky News, ⁵Business Insider and ⁶Newsweek.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Center for Immigration Studies. This agreement comes at a critical time for the Biden administration, which has sought to demonstrate strong action to secure the country's southern border and discourage potential migrants. As the border issue is ranked as one of the most important topics in the upcoming November election, this deal — if successful — may help Biden.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Guardian. At first, this policy may seem like a good idea. Yet, it is doomed to fail and force vulnerable people further into the hands of human trafficking gangs. Desperate migrants flee either poverty or persecution, so they are already willing to take significant risks on their journey to the US border. Blocking this route will only drive them further underground.

Predictions