Tue Feb 18 19:20:00 UTC 2025: ## Panama Accepts Deportation Flights of Undocumented Immigrants from Asia
**Panama City, Panama –** The Trump administration’s intensified deportation efforts have led to the first of several planned flights carrying undocumented immigrants from various Asian countries to Panama. A military aircraft transported 119 individuals from Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Pakistan to Panama City on Wednesday. This follows the US government’s apparent inability to secure the repatriation of these individuals to their home countries.
The move marks a significant escalation in US deportation policy, particularly given the reported threats by President Trump to seize the Panama Canal. The agreement to accept these deportees seemingly resulted from a recent visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Panama. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino confirmed the arrival of the immigrants, stating they are being temporarily housed in a hotel before relocation to a shelter near the Darién Gap. The US will fund their eventual repatriation to their home countries, according to Mulino.
This action makes Panama the latest Central American nation, following El Salvador and Guatemala, to cooperate with the US in accepting deportees. A second flight carrying Asian and African deportees, including citizens of Cameroon, was reportedly scheduled to depart for Panama on Thursday.
The Darién Gap, a notoriously dangerous jungle region bordering Panama and Colombia, has become a major transit point for migrants heading towards the US. While the number of migrants traversing the Darién Gap has decreased from over half a million in 2023 to 300,000 last year, this new development adds another layer to the complex migration situation in Central America.
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