Return to Sender: Panama Starts Flying Migrants Home… At US Taxpayers’ Expenses

The Republic of Panama on Tuesday launched a new program that will see illegal immigrants who travel through the country flown back to their countries of birth, with the costs being borne by U.S. taxpayers..

The repatriation flight program is one of many ways Panama’s new President Jose Raul Mulino is making good on his campaign promise to end his country’s role as a major transit route for illegal immigrants to the United States. Last year a new record was set, with more than half a million migrants crossing the infamous Darien Gap jungle which extends across the border between Panama and Colombia.

Tuesday’s first repatriation flight was fully loaded with 29 Colombians, all with a criminal record in their home country, one of whom is reportedly a member of the powerful Clan del Golfo gang, also known as the Gaitanistas. They were both captured after crossing the Darien Gap and were handcuffed and wearing ankle shackles as they were led onto an Air Panama plane. Panama’s senior migration manager, Roger Mojica, told reporters that flights to other destinations, including India and Ecuador, were in the works, with the next flight scheduled for Friday.

Critical, the deportation of Venezuelans – who make up the largest subgroup of the illegal migrant flow – could be postponedthanks to Panama’s suspension of diplomacy with Venezuela after a disputed presidential election in July. Pre-election polls indicated that many Venezuelans planned to leave their country if President Nicolas Maduro won. His declared victory is in doubt and the Biden administration wants him to carry out regime change himself. Panama’s Mulino backed Washington’s agenda, offering Maduro “safe passage” to a third country; Maduro warned Mulino not to “mess around” with Venezuela.

Under a deal announced on the same day in July that Mulino was sworn in, the United States government will cover the costs The costs Panama incurs for deporting people who enter Panama illegally, in addition to helping with “equipment, transportation and logistics.” The first commitment calls for the United States to pay $6 million.

The famous Pan-American Highway has a 106-kilometer gap that begins just inside Colombia, forcing migrants to a dangerous journey on foot through a mountainous, swampy area called the Darien GapThey must survive not only in dangerous natural conditions, but also in robberies, kidnappings, rapes and murders committed by criminal gangs lurking in the hot jungle.

Earlier this month, Panamanian Border Police have arrested 15 people involved in an illegal ‘VIP’ smuggling operation for Chinese clients. Using boats, canoes, ATVs and horses, the top service promised a faster, easier and safer passage to Panama — at a higher price. Migrants pay about $500 for a standard escort through the canyon, but the cost for the expedited trip ranges from $2,600 to $8,000.

Referring to Tuesday’s flight that brought Colombians back home, Marlen Pineiro of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told reporters, “The message we’re sending is very clear: Darien is no longer a route.” Considering she was referring to a few dozen Colombians versus the estimated 8,000 people who crossed the canyon in the first few weeks of August alone, That’s quite a boast.