US to launch pilot plan in Panama for migrant applications

A group of United States officials will travel to Panama to work with the authorities in processing migrant applications, US Government sources confirmed.

Specifically, the Biden administration will launch a six-month pilot program to support Panama in reviewing the applications of migrants arriving in the country and deporting those who do not meet the requirements to stay.

Those deported will be those people who “do not need international protection or other legal requirements” to remain in Panama, a State Department spokesperson told EFE.

The team of officials will be made up of workers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State.

The United States authorities will also help the Government of Panama obtain financing to strengthen its deportation operations, the US network CBS reported.

Crisis

The vast majority of people who cross from Colombia to Panama are from Venezuela, the country with the largest humanitarian crisis on the continent, with more than 7 million people who have left the country in recent years, according to data from governments and agencies. of the United Nations Organization.

There is no date yet for the start of the visit, the media assured, and the signing of an agreement between Washington and Panama, one of the main transit countries on the migratory route to the United States, is pending.

The measure is part of the Joe Biden government’s attempts to stop the flow on the southern border with Mexico, which reached record numbers this year, with more than 2 million arrests by the Border Patrol.

Just last week, the United States extended a license in the sanctions against Venezuela that allows repatriation flights by the Venezuelan airline Conviasa from countries in the region to Caracas.

So far this year, more than 400,000 people have entered Panama through the Darién jungle, which serves as the natural border with Colombia, demonstrating the scope of the current migration crisis in the region.

According to a report by the Human Rights Watch organization, the movement restrictions imposed by American governments, promoted by the United States, have forced thousands of people to take more dangerous routes, including crossing the Darien.

The vast majority of people who cross from Colombia to Panama are from Venezuela, the country with the largest humanitarian crisis on the continent, with more than 7 million people who have left the country in recent years, according to data from governments and agencies. of the United Nations Organization.

In response, more than 20 countries on the continent, including the United States, Mexico, and Panama, have imposed visas on Venezuelans, causing an increase in irregular land routes to US territory.

The Biden Administration has also taken steps specifically aimed at restricting Venezuelan migration across the border, most recently resuming deportation flights to Caracas.