US says $14m program with Panama for removal of migrants has funded 2,000 deportations

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PANAMA CITY (AP) — The United States government says that a deal reached with Panama last year to pay for charter flights and airline tickets to deport migrants without status in Panama has led to nearly 2,000 migrants exiting the country.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is touting it as a factor in the steep decline of migration through the Darien Gap, but the deal was reached by the administration of his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

The most recent of the 48 charter flights came Tuesday and carried 81 migrants from Cameroon, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, according to a statement from the U.S. embassy.

Washington is paying Panama about $14 million to deport migrants without status.

The U.S. sent 299 migrants to Panama in February as the Trump administration tried to accelerate deportations as part of a deal in which countries like Panama and Costa Rica would act as “bridges,” temporarily detaining deportees while they await return to their countries of origin or third countries.

Migration through the Darien Gap, connecting Panama and Colombia, surged in 2021 with more than 500,000 crossing the jungle in 2023, most headed for the United States. The flow slowed last year and has practically stopped altogether this year due to changes in U.S. migration policy at the border.