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last mo.

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.