Overview
- Only 10 migrants traveled northward through the Darién Gap in June, marking the fewest monthly crossings since the early 2010s, according to Migración Panama.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin credits the Trump administration’s intensified border enforcement for deterring nearly all northbound traffic.
- In March, President José Raúl Mulino ordered the shutdown of migrant transit centers in the Darién region to block new entries into the jungle passage.
- Local economies along the 60-mile roadless corridor have been devastated as Indigenous communities and small businesses lose income tied to migrant flows.
- Earlier this year, nearly 10,000 migrants reversed south through the Darién Gap from January to February, underscoring the impact of stricter U.S. immigration measures.