Panama Is The Latest Country to Balk at The Possibility of Receiving U.S. Deportees From Third Countries

The governments of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands said on Thursday they would not receive U.S. deportees from third countries after a report from NBC News stated president-elect Donald Trump's intentions of doing so if their original countries would not accept them.

Both countries issued statements of their own after the report, with the office of Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis saying the country "simply does not have the resources to accommodate such a request" and that "the prime minister's priorities remain focused on addressing the concerns of the Bahamian people."

Mexico, on its end, is seeking a deal to avoid taking deportees as well. Asked about the reports, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her daily press conference lats week that her government hopes to "reach an agreement with the Trump administration so that, in case these deportations happen, they send people from other countries directly to their countries of origin."

The original report also mentioned Panama as part of the plan which mirrors one attempted by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, whose administration sought to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda. However, the Panamanian government, through a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has since also announced that not only has it not received any formal or informal communication regarding the proposal but that the country has no obligation to accept such deportees, according to CNN:

"In response to reports published in U.S. media about the possibility of sending deportees to Panama from the U.S., we inform that we have not received any official or unofficial communication regarding said proposal. In light of international law, we have no obligation to receive deportees of other nationalities that are not Panamanian"

The ministry, however, reiterated Panama's commitment to "maintain relations with the United States within the framework of mutual respect," emphasizing that the government's priority is "to protect the interests of the Republic of Panama."

Panama has previously opposed becoming a "safe third country" for U.S.-bound migrants, rejecting such an agreement during Trump's first administration in 2019, as La Vanguardia reports.

Separately, Panama continues its own deportation efforts under an agreement with the United States signed on July 1, coinciding with the inauguration of President José Raúl Mulino. The agreement entails U.S.-funded deportation flights from migrants attempting to cross the Darien Gap, a perilous jungle route on the border with Colombia many migrants use as they seek to reach the U.S.

According to the National Migration Service (SNM), 298,187 migrants have crossed the Darién Gap so far this year. This represents a 40% decrease compared to 2023, when over 520,000 individuals made the crossing.