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The passage of migrants through the Darién jungle, the natural border between Colombia and Panama, drastically decreased in 2025 to 3,091 crossings, a 99% reduction compared to 2024, when over 300,000 people crossed it on their way to North America, according to official figures from Panama.
" We moved from over 300,000 irregular entries in 2024 to just over 3,000 this year. It is a historic achievement that reflects responsible and coordinated management, always with respect for human rights," stated Panama's Minister of Public Security, Frank Alexis Ábrego, in a statement.
The official specified that irregular crossings through the Darién dropped from 302,203 in 2024 to just 3,091 in 2025.
Additionally, it was reported that during the year, 22 charter flights were conducted to deport and expel foreigners.
The number of irregular travelers in 2025 is similar to the levels recorded a decade ago, when 3,430 crossed in 2012 and 3,140 did so in 2013, according to official data.
However, it is well below the more than 300,000 that arrived in Panama in 2024, the historic record of 520,085 in 2023 —the most critical year of the crisis—, 248,283 in 2022, and 133,726 in 2021.
The decline in migration flow is mainly attributed to the strict immigration policies of the Donald Trump administration, which returned to the White House in January 2025 with a program focused on deportations, tightening of border controls, and internal restrictions for asylum seekers.
These measures were complemented by those adopted by Panama's president, José Raúl Mulino, since he took office in July 2024, including the closure of paths through Darién and the signing of an agreement with the United States to conduct deportation flights.
El Darién, a dense and dangerous jungle that separates South America from Central America, has become one of the main crossing points for thousands of migrants—mostly Venezuelans, Haitians, and Ecuadorians—who are trying to reach the United States in recent years.
The change in policy in Washington and the pressure on Panama seem to have temporarily stalled that route.
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