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3w ago

Only 10 Migrants Cross Through Darién Gap This June, Lowest Since the 2010s

Coordinated U.S. enforcement policies with Panama’s closure of migrant transit centers have effectively halted the once-bustling corridor.

Aerial view of migrants walking by the jungle near Bajo Chiquito village of the Darién Gap in Panama in September 2023. Photo: Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images
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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.