Panama catching terror suspects as it nabs, deports US-bound illegal migrants

Panama is following through on a pledge to crack down on U.S.-bound illegal immigration through its country, and it’s finding suspected terrorists along the way.

Panamanian government officials deported 30 Ecuadorian nationals on Thursday evening after they were observed allegedly evading a migration checkpoint, according to Reuters. The deportation marked the second such U.S.-financed repatriation flight in the country after newly-elected President Jose Raul Mulino vowed to stop Panama from being a transit point for illegal migrants headed to the U.S.

As the tiny Central American nation ramps up its border enforcement, government officials say they are also identifying suspected terrorists headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Critica, a local Spanish-news outlet. Panama’s National Border Service (SENAFRONT) reported earlier this month that they arrested three suspected terrorists from Afghanistan.

“We linked and we profiled them to be members of an active cell,” SENAFRONT Director General Jorge Gobea told the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) about the arrests. “They were members of a Salafist group, and they had links with different activities.”

Gobea confirmed to CIS that such apprehensions happen regularly.

“We have many stories of that. We don’t just have one,” the director said. “We have many stories of that, from Somalia, from Yemen … from Syria, from Africa.”

Mulino, a right-wing politician, was elected in May on a notable pledge to shut down the numerous migration trails running along the Darien Gap, a vast jungle region across the Panama-Colombia border in which more than half million migrants used in their quest to the U.S. southern border. Hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants cross the Darien Gap every year, taking advantage of the dense jungle and dangerous cartel presence that make border enforcement difficult for government authorities.

Mulino’s government inked a deal with the U.S. to mitigate illegal migration flows. The Memorandum of Understanding deployed American screening officers to assist Panamanian officials process migrants who cross the Darien Gap and also provided funds to help bolster the small nation’s deportation capabilities.

The deportation flight out of Panama on Thursday came after government officials in the country repatriated 30 Colombian nationals earlier this month, according to Reuters. The deportation flights will continue, as Mulino has already announced flights for Indian and Chinese nationals in the coming days.

Border Patrol agents catch suspected terrorists attempting to illegally cross into the U.S. every year, according to Customs and Border Protection data. The number of individuals on the terror watch list caught by Border Patrol has spikedincredibly under the Biden-Harris administration as the country has dealt with an ongoing border crisis.

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