Colombian migrants deported from Panama are received by members of the Social Prosperity Department upon arrival at the Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Rionegro, Antioquia department, Colombia, on February 13, 2025. (Photo by JAIME SALDARRIAGA / AFP)
Panama City: Panama said Thursday it had received a first US military plane transporting 119 deportees of various nationalities, who will now be repatriated to their own countries.
President Jose Raul Mulino, who has offered his country as a stopover for migrants expelled from the United States by the Donald Trump administration, said the plane arrived Wednesday with "people of the most diverse nationalities."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama two weeks ago, meeting Mulino in the midst of a dispute over ownership of the Panama Canal, which Trump had vowed the United States would be "taking back."
After the visit, Rubio voiced optimism Panama would address US concerns, including over alleged Chinese influence on the operation of the critical US-built waterway.
Mulino also promised to step up cooperation on the new administration's top priority -- repatriating undocumented migrants.
He offered Rubio the use of an airstrip in the town of Meteti in Darien, the dense jungle that has become a major crossing point for migrants seeking to exit South America en route to the United States.
Trump's predecessor Joe Biden had already sealed a deal after Mulino's election last year to provide $6 million to assist in expelling migrants.
Since then, Panama has closed several routes in the Darien and deported migrants on flights to countries including Colombia and Ecuador.
On his first day in office last month, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern US border and vowed to deport "millions and millions" of migrants.
