Since US President Donald Trump took office and implemented his extensive immigration assault, migration bridges through the once-notorious Darien Gap have dropped by a staggering 99 %, according to the New York Post.
According to Department of Homeland Security ( DHS) data, only 408 migrants were recorded traveling the risky jungle route in February, a significant decrease from the 37,166 migrants who traveled the route in the same month as President Joe Biden in 2024.
The Darien Gap, a robust 70-mile stretch of forest between Colombia and Panama, had become a highly lucrative hall for immigrants from all over the world, especially during Biden’s presidency.
However, according to the news company Associated Press, photos of the river harbor of Lajas Blancas, which was originally overrun by migrants, have revealed that the river has become eerily empty, its tents have been abandoned, and its riverbanks have been silent since Trump’s inauguration.
President of Panama José Raul Mulino declared last quarter that” the border with Darien is essentially closed” and that he would completely omit the way. According to DHS quotes, Mulino, a traditional ally of Trump, has played a key role in stopping the forest cross, which had when seen over 16, 000 workers a year in 2022.
Only a few stranded migrants, mainly from Venezuela, Angola, and Nigeria, remain, despite the departure of aid organizations like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. Hermanie Blanco, 33, is one of them, who recently took company just weeks after Trump. According to AP,” It’s deserted.” No one visits this place again, Blanco continued, adding,” Physicians Without Borders and the Red Cross.”
Over 500, 000 workers made the trip through the Darien in 2023 only, according to AP, which is record-breaking for the Biden management.
But, Trump’s returning has caused a dramatic and swift turnaround. What analysts are calling a “reverse stream” of relocation is the result of his government’s policies, including a nearly total shut down of hospital admittance at the US-Mexico boundary and violent deportation measures.
Some, like Blanco, are currently taking boat trips along Panama’s Caribbean beach to try to return to their home countries.
The US state department lately acknowledged Panama’s work, reporting a 98 % decrease in movement through the Darién area. Latin American nations have increased police in response to Washington’s force in line with Trump’s border strategy.
A clear reminder to would-be migrants that the once-bustling journey north is then properly sealed is then displayed in a signal at the Lajas Blancas camp that reads,” Darien is not a path, it’s a jungle,” in several languages.
