Investigating Panama’s Efforts to Cut Off Migration

Parsing Immigration Policy

The latest podcast episode from the Center for Immigration Studies highlights recent fieldwork conducted in Colombia and Panama. This episode explores the migration flow through the Darien Gap and examines new developments under Panama’s leadership designed to manage the number of migrants traveling through this dangerous area en route to the U.S. border. Despite these initiatives carrying positive implications for U.S., the U.S. has been slow to provide the diplomatic and financial support promised to the Panamanian government.
National Security Fellow Todd Bensman joins the podcast after returning from a lengthy trip to the Darien region. He shares how Panama's newly elected president, who took office on July 1, is working to close the Darien Gap to the massive surge of migrants. This region, a roadless jungle connecting Colombia and Panama, has become a strategic choke point for migrants traveling north to the United States. Many of the migrants come from Venezuela, Haiti and countries with high potential security risks. Last year, over 550,000 migrants made their way through the gap, a significant increase from previous years. So great had the volume become that Panama went from screening 90 percent of those passing through the country for terrorism or espionage before 2021 to less than 3 percent in 2024.
Bensman emphasizes that the Darien Gap matters to U.S. national security as it’s a transit point for migrants from over 170 countries, including those of terrorism concern. Panama’s new president recognized this and moved swiftly to set up roadblocks, erect barbed wire, target smuggling networks and more. However, U.S. support, particularly financial backing for deportation flights, has been slow to materialize, allowing the flow to continue.
Bensman also delves into the armed militia group that controls critical smuggling routes on the Colombia side of the Darien Gap and speaks about his exclusive CIS interview with the chief of Panama’s National Border Service, Director General Jorge Gobea.
Host
Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Guest
Todd Bensman is the National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Related
Progress Report: Has Panama Closed the Notorious ‘Darien Gap’ Mass Migration Route to the U.S. Border as Promised?
Exclusive Interview: Panama Border Security Chief Says Many U.S.-Bound Terror Suspects Caught in Darien Gap Region
CIS at the “Darien Gap”, heart of the U.S. Border Crisis?
Intro Montage
Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".