Panama is detaining in a hotel nearly 300 people from various countries deported by the United States, not allowing them to leave while waiting for international authorities to organize a return to their countries.
The group of unauthorized migrants, which includes children, were bused to the camp late Tuesday night. “It looks like a zoo, there are fenced cages,” said one of the detainees.
Days after the United States sent 300 migrants from Asia and the Middle East to Panama, a Panamanian official said that more than half had agreed to be deported to their countries of origin.
In its first month, the Trump administration has reached deals with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama to act as stopovers or destinations for migrants expelled from the U.S. It has brokered deals with Venezuela to pick up its people in Texas, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Honduras.