1 entry
Trump Administration Third-Country Deportations to Panama
The U.S. and Panama expanded an existing removal arrangement in early 2025, and Panama's government separately issued an undisclosed executive decree creating an additional transit regime enabling further transfers.
The US and Panama expanded an existing MOU on February 2, 2025, under which ~299 people were transferred that same month. A separate, undisclosed Panamanian executive decree (May 13, 2026) created a new transit regime enabling three further 2026 flights.
2025 Events (1)
Panama accepted 299 third-country deportees under expanded, unwritten MOU
The United States and Panama expanded an existing Memorandum of Understanding on February 2, 2025, under which roughly 299 migrants and asylum seekers from Asian and other countries were forcibly transferred to Panama that same month, many expelled without any protection screening under a Trump proclamation suspending asylum access. Dozens remained stranded in Panama for months, held at a jungle-camp facility and a Panama City hotel, before human rights groups intervened.