Anti-immigration Panama repatriates illegal immigrants to South America, U.S. funds flights

To stem the flow of illegal immigrants, Panama on Tuesday began repatriating illegal immigrants to South America on U.S.-funded flights.

The U.S. coordinated the effort with the new anti-immigration government of Panama led by newly sworn-in President José Raúl Mulino, ADN America reported.

Mulino has positioned himself as an anti-immigration crusader and promised to close the Darién Gap natural land bridge that joins Panama and Colombia, thus linking North and South America. He "has quickly become one of the most significant figures in the region's battle to halt migration."

Mulino is uniquely positioned "to create a barrier between" the continents "by walling off the Darién Gap, a perilous jungle area that stretches across his country’s Darién Province and into the northern part of Colombia’s Chocó Department."

Despite its hazardous terrain, the Darién Gap has emerged as a popular route for migration among "Venezuelans escaping communism and the Maduro regime."