This week, Panama’s new president, Jose Raul Mulino, took office and signed an agreement with the United States to crack down on illegal immigration.
According to the New York Post, the United States will help pay for flights to help Panama deport illegal immigrants caught using the Darien Gap to get to the U.S.-Mexico border.
As of right now, it is not known how much money the U.S. will spend on this initiative (via NYP):
Under a new deal signed Monday, the US has agreed to “cover” the costs of repatriating the illegal migrants after Panama’s new President, José Raúl Mulino, vowed to shut down the dangerous stretch of jungle that has already been traversed by more than 500,000 migrants in the last year.
As part of the commitment, which was inked by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the US will offer up equipment, transportation and logistics to send the illegal migrants back to their native countries, the Panamanian government said.
Reuters noted that Mulino, 65, promised to find solutions to this "humanitarian and environmental crisis" in his first address as president.
“I won’t allow Panama to be an open path for thousands of people who enter our country illegally, supported by an international organization related to drug trafficking and human trafficking,” Mulino said in his inauguration remarks.
"We cannot continue financing the economic and social costs that massive illegal immigration generates for the country, along with the consequent connection of international criminal organizations," Mulino added.
Right after the address, Mulino’s foreign minister signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. government to "allow the closing off of the passing of illegal immigrants through the Darien," Panama's government said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The Post added that the program would be entirely under Panama’s control and the United States would have no say on who to deport.
The deal is “designed to jointly reduce the number of migrants being cruelly smuggled through the Darien, usually en route to the United States,” a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement to the Post, adding that the efforts would “help deter irregular migration in the region and at our southern border, and halt the enrichment of malign smuggling networks that prey on vulnerable migrants.”