Q24N (EFE) Between January 1 and 18, 2026, 577 undocumented migrants arrived in Panama, traveling back to South America after their plans to settle in the United States were thwarted.
Under Donald Trump’s second presidency, the U.S. has launched a campaign of mass deportations as part of a tightening of its immigration policy.
Panamanian immigration authorities informed EFE that as of last Sunday, 555 Venezuelans, seven Colombians, three Ecuadorians, three Americans, and nine citizens of non-continental countries had arrived in the country.
Most came from Mexico, where they were stranded after being unable to cross the U.S. border due to increased security measures.
In Panama, they arrive primarily in Miramar, a town on the Caribbean coast, where they board boats to reach the community of Puerto Obaldía, in the Darién jungle province, bordering Colombia. From there, they travel by sea to the Colombian town of Necoclí.
The total number of migrants in the reverse flow who arrived in Panama in 2025 was 22,833, of whom more than 90% were Venezuelan, followed by Colombians, Peruvians, and Ecuadorians.
This reverse journey, from north to south, reflects the end of the migration crisis that ravaged the Darién region starting in 2021, primarily driven by Venezuelans fleeing the widespread crisis in their country.
“Irregular crossings through Darién plummeted from 302,203 in 2024 to just 3,091 this year (2025), a 99% reduction,” the Ministry of Public Security reported on December 31.
The worst year of the crisis was 2023, when 520,085 irregular migrants, the vast majority Venezuelans, crossed the jungle, far exceeding the 248,283 in 2022 and the 133,726 in 2021, according to official figures.
The drastic drop in migration flows to North America is attributed to the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies, based on mass deportations and severe internal restrictions for this population, in addition to Panamanian measures such as the closure of roads in the Darién jungle.