An area known as the Darien Gap in Panama, while not a place most Americans may be aware of, is crucial to the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States
While U.S. officials record less encounters with illegal immigrants at the southwest border, Panama’s migration authorities reported a record number of northbound migrants have arrived from the Darien Gap. In just seven month, 2023 saw more migrants pass through the Central American jungle on their way to the United States than in all of 2022.
Roughly 10 percent of migrants who journey on the seven- to 10-day walk through the inhospitable Darien jungle, which extends into Panama from Colombia, don’t survive, according to war correspondent Michael Yon.