The number of migrants attempting to cross a rugged jungle connecting South and Central America went up last month. That’s according to data from Panama and rights groups on the ground.
The Darien Gap is a roadless and often deadly land bridge between South and Central America. Thousands of migrants have made the journey there en route to the U.S.-Mexico border — especially as flights and other migratory routes are closed off.
Adam Isacson leads the Defense Oversight program at the Washington Office on Latin America.
“This time last year was when the Darien Gap was seeing the highest amount of migration — about 2,500 people a day,” he said. “It has since come down to about 1,000 a day during the first half of 2024, and then it plummeted in July.”
He says that’s when Panama’s new president took office and began enacting hardline policies he promised would tamp down on migration. The number of people crossing daily dropped to around 500 as a result. It went back up again in September, to about 800 — the majority are Venezuelans fleeing a turbulent election and political crackdown back home.
Isacson says many are likely looking for asylum in the U.S. But they’ll face new challenges now.
“They cannot turn themselves in and get asylum and Mexico allowed Venezuelan citizens to be deported back into Mexico,” he said. “So you’re not going to see large groups of Venezuelans trying to turn themselves into Border Patrol, like you did in the past.”
A Biden administration policy enacted this summer severely restricts asylum for migrants apprehended by Border Patrol. Isacson says the number of asylum seekers needing assistance in Mexico is likely to increase in the coming months as a result.
The only option for most migrants looking for asylum now is to get an appointment through the CBP One app — and the wait is up to nine months.
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Every year, Arizona State University Barrett Honors College professor Abby Wheatley brings her class on transnational migration to the Arizona borderlands.
