The number of migrants traversing the treacherous Darien Gap in the hopes of making it to the United States has plummeted as Panama’s right-wing President José Raúl Mulino cracks down on the major migration route.
Crossings through the 70-mile stretch of jungle — the only land bridge between South and Central America — dropped by 40% this year to about 300,000, the country’s Security Minister Frank Abrego told the Wall Street Journal.
Mulino, who took office in July, had vowed to curb illegal immigration, with his government quickly signing an agreement with the US to crack down on migration through the Darien Gap. Under the deal, the US agreed to “cover” the costs of repatriating migrants who enter Panama illegally.
But despite the significant drop in crossings, Mulino stressed that the numbers could creep up again without ongoing US support.
“We want the Trump administration to realize that its border is actually here at the Darien Gap and to see how complicated that area is,” Mulino told the Journal.
“We are still concerned,” he said.
Last year alone, human smugglers helped more than 530,000 migrants navigate the remote jungle route on their way through the country.
The notable decline is thanks in large part to the country beefing up their security measures to include biometric screening — which makes it easier for border agents to identify those with criminal histories.
These numbers are promising, but ex-border chiefs previously told The Post it came more than three years too late thanks to the disastrous “border czar” reign of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Darien Gap has become a favorite smuggling route and helped facilitate multiple surges of migrants entering the US illegally.
Abrego said some days as many as 25,000 people would take the route on a daily basis.
Migrants who made their way through the dense jungle were then whisked via bus through Panama and onto Costa Rica, where the cycle would repeat.
Many countries along the caravan route would even provide busing to migrants in the interest of moving them along to the next country, the Journal reported.
Mulino has taken hardline steps to end the free-for-all, including deploying troops and installing razor wire fences to keep migrants moving single-file through the wilderness, which makes them easier to track.
Trump and Mulino don’t see eye to eye on everything, however.
The incoming commander-in-chief has made overtures for the US to take control of the Panama Canal, which was given to the country via treaty nearly a quarter-century ago.
Mulino said in no uncertain terms that the canal changing hands is not in the offing.