Fewer migrants risk Darién Gap following Panama crackdown

The number of migrants walking through the jungles of Colombia and Panama en route to the US has fallen in recent weeks, potentially signalling a further decline in new arrivals at the southern border.

Tighter controls imposed by Panama’s new president and border closures after Venezuela’s disputed election contributed to the drop, according to Elias Solis, president of the Red Cross of Panama, which offers humanitarian and medical aid to those who make the dangerous trip through the Darién Gap. Many arrive dehydrated and suffering from stomach problems, injuries and emotional trauma, with Venezuelans, Ecuadoreans and Haitians the biggest groups.

Crossings of undocumented migrants across the southern US border have plunged since President Joe Biden’s executive order in June limiting asylum claims, while the Darién Gap data signals that numbers may fall further. That could be a boon to the presidential campaign of Democrat Kamala Harris as she seeks to blunt attacks from her Republican rival former president Donald Trump.

Trump has said that the Biden-Harris administration did not do enough to secure the border. Polling in swing states has shown immigration is the No. 2 issue for voters in the presidential election, behind only the economy.

“The reduced Darien numbers are certainly a factor preventing the Republican Party from taking full advantage of the border as a line of attack against Kamala Harris,” said Adam Isacson, who studies US migration policy at the Washington Office on Latin America. “Even if it’s just a temporary situation, that dog isn’t barking as much right now.”