One of the most dangerous obstacles for migrants hoping to enter the United States at the southern border may be closing after an election-year agreement between Panama and the Biden administration. On Monday, the White House announced an agreement between the two governments to significantly reduce crossings through Panama’s Darien Gap, potentially closing the pathway to scores of migrants headed to the United States’ southern border in search of asylum.
The move will mirror recent agreements with Mexico to slow the pace of illegal crossings during an election year when the current President has trailed in the polls on the topic of illegal migration at the southern border. Since May, Jose Raul Mulino, Panama’s current president, has vowed to crack down on the popular but dangerous route for migrants who head to the United States in search of the American dream. As reported by Breitbart Texas, the route has been traveled by more migrants headed to the United States under the Biden administration than at any other time in U.S. history.
Located between Panama and Colombia, the Darien Jungle is one of the most formidable obstacles migrants will face on their trek to the United States. The UN International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project estimates more than 250 migrants died crossing the Darién Gap between January 2018 and June 2023 — more than 40 were children.
