Darién Gap crossings nearly disappear as Trump drops hammer on illegal immigration

Under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, a once heavily trafficked jungle passage between Colombia and Panama experienced a 99% drop in crossings in February.

Days before Trump’s inauguration in January, border czar Tom Homan vowed to shut down the Darién Gap in order to “protect our national security.”

'The problem we had in Lajas Blancas eliminated.'

“It’s going to save thousands of lives,” he told NBC News.

The Associated Press reported that over 500,000 individuals traveled through the crossing in 2023. During a peak period in 2022, an average of 16,400 individuals passed through every week.

The news outlet shared photos from Lajas Blancas, a Panamanian river port once teeming with migrant camps with tight rows of small tents and clotheslines strung with drying laundry. Now, only about 10 people trickle through per week. The AP’s most recent photos revealed a ghost town.

The news outlet reported that humanitarian organizations that previously frequented the area have since shut down operations.

“Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, no one comes here any more,” a Venezuelan national told the AP. “It’s deserted.”

Panamanian authorities now reportedly strictly control access.

Last month, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino declared the Darién Gap effectively “closed.”

“The problem we had in Lajas Blancas eliminated,” he stated.

The New York Post reported that traffic plummeted by 99%, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Only 408 migrants were recorded as crossing through the Darién Gap in February, compared to 37,166 over the same month the previous year.

Bloomberg reported that of those who traversed the Darién Gap in February, 151 were from Venezuela, 43 from Cameroon, and 22 from Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-Mexico border has also seen steep declines in illegal crossings.

In February, the most recent data available, 28,654 border encounters were recorded, compared to 256,071 the year prior — an 89% drop.

Trump has implemented many initiatives to find and deport the illegal aliens who made it into the U.S. under the previous administration, including requiring immigrants to submit their information to a new online registry.

According to a memo obtained by the Post on Friday, individuals who fail to self-report or do not carry proof of registration could be referred to the Department of Justice for “criminal prosecution.”

The memo instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to “treat the alien’s case as an immigration enforcement priority.”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told the Post that those who fail to comply with the registration order could be fined up to $1,000 daily.

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