DARIÉN GAP

Panama reports a drastic fall in migrants through the notorious Darién Gap

September 2026: Irregular crossings through the treacherous Darién Gap jungle between Colombia and Panama have plummeted by roughly 90 per cent in 2026, according to official figures published in late August 2026.

 

According to preliminary data released on 29 August 2026 by Panama’s National Migration Service, only 320 migrants crossed the rainforest border from Colombia into Panama between 1 January 2026 and 31 July 2026. By comparison, 2,934 crossings were recorded over the same period in 2025, and more than 520,000 individuals made the journey during the migration corridor's peak in 2023.

 

The route's near collapse follows sustained enforcement stemming from a bilateral repatriation pact signed by Panama and the United States on 1 July 2024. Under the initial agreement, Washington financed charter flights to deport irregular entrants intercepted by Panamanian forces. The framework was subsequently expanded on 2 February 2025 and again in April 2026, making Panama a regional hub for accepting and repatriating third-country nationals removed from the United States. 

 

Coupled with physical blockades, including razor-wire barriers erected along major jungle trails by Panama’s National Border Service (Senafront), and sweeping US border asylum curbs reinstated in early 2025, the deterrence network has largely dried up foot traffic through the corridor.

 

Despite the precipitous drop, South Americans still make up 87 per cent of those venturing into the jungle. Venezuelans accounted for 163 of the 320 recorded travellers in the first seven months of 2026, followed by 50 from Ecuador and 48 from Colombia.

 

Frontline monitors report that the risks have shifted rather than disappeared. A briefing issued on 12 August 2026 by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) warned that although irregular arrival numbers along traditional transit corridors have fallen sharply across the Americas, journeys have become significantly more hazardous for those who attempt them. Stricter containment has pushed travellers towards deeper, uncharted jungle corridors and offshore maritime bypasses controlled by criminal syndicates.

 

The drying up of northbound flows has also triggered a profound economic reversal along Colombia’s northern coast. In staging towns such as Necoclí and Capurganá, the informal economies that once served hundreds of thousands of transiting families have collapsed, leaving local boat operators and supply vendors without a primary livelihood.

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GUATEMALA

Guatemala steps up support as thousands of Guatemalans return from the US

July 2026: Over 31,700 people returned to Guatemala during the first half of 2026 as the country increased efforts to assist migrants in rebuilding their lives after leaving the United States. A new report (June 2026) by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) states that many of those returning had spent years, and in some cases decades, living and working in the US before being required to leave.

 

The increase comes as the US government, under President Trump, continues its strict immigration enforcement policies, resulting in more deportations. While political debate in the United States has mainly focused on border security and immigration enforcement, the new report emphasises the challenges faced by those who return to Guatemala and the communities that receive them.

 

According to the IOM and MPI, more than 55,000 Guatemalans returned during 2025, the overwhelming majority from the United States and a smaller number from Mexico. Researchers found that the profile of those returning has changed in recent years. Many are older than previous migrants who returned to Guatemala, have lived abroad for long periods and increasingly come from Indigenous communities in the country’s Western Highlands, a region rich in tradition but poorer than many other parts of Guatemala.

 

About one in four had lived in the United States for at least ten years before returning. Rather than recent arrivals, many had established jobs, families, and social networks before their deportation.

 

The report also questions the idea that people who return immediately intend to migrate again. About half of those surveyed said they planned to stay in Guatemala. Among those considering another journey abroad, many stated they would remain if stable employment and better economic opportunities were available locally.

 

In response to the increasing number of people returning home, the Guatemalan government launched Plan Retorno al Hoga in February 2025. The initiative brings together over 20 government agencies, international organisations, and private-sector partners to receive returning Guatemalans and assist them in reintegrating into their communities.

 

The programme provides support with identity documents, healthcare, employment services, vocational training, and referrals to long-term assistance. The report argues that emergency support alone is insufficient. Lasting success relies on access to jobs, education, public services, and opportunities that enable families to rebuild their lives.

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HONDURAS

Honduras provides migrants with a humanitarian stopover on their journey north

June 2026: The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has published a report on the Sagrada Familia Temporary Rest Centre in Danlí, eastern Honduras, one of the main staging posts for migrants travelling north through Central America. The report, released on 19 May 2026, documents the scale and nature of transit migration through the region, as well as the humanitarian response it has prompted.

 

The centre, situated a few kilometres from the Honduran border with Nicaragua, is operated by Caritas Honduras, with support from IOM and financing from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (UNCERF). It offers shelter, food, medical care, psychological support, and protection services to migrants in transit.

 

Danlí sits on one of the main overland routes used by migrants heading north from South America and the Caribbean towards Guatemala, Mexico, and ultimately the United States. Between 2023 and 2024, hundreds of thousands of people crossed Honduras along this corridor. Most are Venezuelan nationals, although the centre welcomes migrants from various countries. Many have already spent weeks or months travelling overland through Colombia and Central America before reaching eastern Honduras.

 

The IOM report highlights that women travelling alone are a particularly vulnerable group within the transit population, facing increased risks of exploitation and violence throughout their journey. Unaccompanied children and family groups with young children are also among those the centre regularly assists.

 

The broader context involves ongoing and shifting migration pressures across the region. Stricter border enforcement by the United States, coupled with the collapse of legal migration routes for several nationalities, has led more migrants to undertake overland routes through Central America. Honduras, situated midway along this corridor, has become a key transit country rather than mainly an origin country, although Hondurans still emigrate in large numbers.

 

IOM Honduras has had a presence in the Danlí area for several years, collaborating with national migration authorities and civil society partners. The Sagrada Familia Centre is part of a wider regional response coordinated through IOM's operations across Central America.

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Source: International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

 

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CHILE

Chile’s new far-right government has started deportation flights and ordered the building of an anti-migrant wall

Six weeks into his presidency, Chile's far-right leader has initiated deportation flights, started constructing border walls, and reversed plans to grant legal status to nearly 200,000 people.

 

April 2026: When José Antonio Kast won Chile's presidential election last November, migrants in the country had good reason to be alarmed. His pledge to expel all 337,000 undocumented residents within weeks of taking office, build walls along the northern border, and criminalise irregular migration had sparked a wave of anxiety among immigrant communities. The Immigrant Times’ December article described the gap between his harsh rhetoric and the economic realities that make migrants essential to Chile's labour market.

 

Now Kast is in office, and he has wasted little time. On his first day as president on 11 March, Kast signed six decrees, three of which targeted immigration. Chile's military began digging a three-metre-deep trench along the Bolivian border and constructing adjacent walls up to five metres high to deter migrants. Kast signed the orders on his inauguration day and travelled to the frontier to oversee construction personally. Addressing reporters in the Port City of Arica, he declared that Chile would confront illegal immigration "with the full force of the state."

 

The new administration also acted swiftly on the issue of legal status. The outgoing government of Gabriel Boric had prepared a decree to grant legal residence to 182,000 people who had applied for regular status. Kast's Migration Service director announced that the new government would not carry out that decree. The government argued that at least 6,000 of those enrolled in the process had criminal records, although it provided no breakdown of the remainder.

 

A poll carried out in Kast's first week in office showed him with a 57 per cent approval rating, the highest for any Chilean president since 2010, with 80 per cent of respondents supporting the border plan. That public support has given him confidence to proceed swiftly with the enforcement agenda his campaign pledged.

 

On 16 April, Chile conducted its first government-organised deportation flight, expelling 40 foreign nationals from the northern city of Iquique. The Boeing 737 of the Air Force made stopovers in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Guayaquil, and Bogotá, delivering 17 Bolivians, four Ecuadorians, and 19 Colombians to local migration authorities. Of the 40, 15 had criminal records; the remaining 25 were cases related to administrative issues, including individuals who had entered Chile through unauthorised crossings, which constitutes grounds for deportation under Chilean law.

 

Officials described the flight as the first in a series of charter operations and stated that 151 deportations had been completed in Kast's first month in office, including land-based removals. According to official figures, more than 44,000 people are ready to be repatriated to their countries, with approximately 75,000 deportation orders pending.

 

However, the scale of the challenge quickly hits practical limits. The situation with Venezuelan migrants, who make up 65 per cent of deportation orders, presents a specific obstacle, as diplomatic relations between Santiago and Caracas remain frozen following Venezuela's disputed 2024 elections, making direct deportations impossible. Kast's government is examining whether a third country could act as an intermediary, but no solution has been confirmed.

 

In the north of the country, the large-scale departure of undocumented migrants that Kast's election was expected to trigger has not occurred. Instead, migrants and asylum seekers have been taking alternative routes into Chile, often via Bolivia, with some crossing the highlands on foot at night to avoid detection, where temperatures can drop to -15 degrees Celsius.

 

Critics contend that Kast's strategy is pushing vulnerable individuals further underground instead of decreasing their numbers. Economists and labour analysts have long warned that mass deportations would lead to severe shortages in agriculture, construction, and care work, the sectors most reliant on migrant labour.

 

Further reading from The Immigrant Times: Migrants in Chile fear Kast presidency || South American migration ||

 

Sources: Newsweek; MercoPress; ColombiaOne; Buenos Aires Times; Al Jazeera; The Rio Times

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