Is Panama Letting Deported Migrants Sneak Back to the U.S.?
Panama just made a move that should raise some eyebrows in Washington. The country announced it’s allowing 112 migrants—recently deported from the U.S.—to leave a remote camp in the Darién region and roam freely within Panama on renewable 30-day humanitarian permits. Most of these migrants are from Asian countries, and some have even been given 90-day permits after claiming they can’t return home due to security concerns.
Now, let’s think about what this really means. The U.S. went through the trouble of deporting these individuals, but now they’re being set loose in a country that’s essentially a launchpad for illegal migration. The Darién Gap, one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world, has already seen a record 500,000 people cross through it in 2023 alone. And Panama’s new policy? It makes it that much easier for these deportees to blend in and start the journey north again.
This isn’t just speculation—it’s a well-documented pattern. The U.S. has been sending deported migrants to Panama under agreements that help Washington deal with people from nations like China and Iran, where direct deportation is tricky. But Panama doesn’t have the capacity—or the political will—to monitor these individuals indefinitely. Once they have legal status within the country, the odds of them heading straight back toward the U.S. border are high.
In short, this policy might as well be an unofficial backdoor into America. If Panama isn’t actively preventing these migrants from moving north, it’s effectively enabling illegal re-entry into the U.S. This should be a major concern for policymakers, especially as border crossings continue to hit record highs.
