KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United States has deported 119 migrants from several Asian countries, including Afghanistan, to Panama under an agreement with the Central American country, according to CBS News.
Citing federal documents, the news outlet reported that the individuals were transferred on Wednesday, marking the first known deportation of its kind under the Trump administration. The group included adults and families with children from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India, Iran, and Uzbekistan. However, the report did not specify how many Afghans were among them.
At a news conference on Thursday, Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino confirmed that 119 people of “the most diverse nationalities in the world” arrived on a US Air Force flight at an airport outside Panama City on Wednesday night.
He said two more US Air Force flights were expected to bring around 360 deported migrants to Panama and that they would be quickly flown to their home countries. The US would cover the costs of the deportations, he added.
Earlier, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that Panamanian authorities had requested its assistance with the deported migrants. The UN agency said that it is working with local officials to provide support, including helping those who wish to return to their home countries.
The US has long faced difficulties deporting migrants from Africa and Asia due to logistical challenges and opposition from governments in those regions to accept deportation flights.
Since taking office last month, President Donald Trump has reached agreements with several countries, including Panama, El Salvador, and Guatemala, to accept migrants who are not originally from those nations. The move is part of his wider effort to carry out mass deportations of undocumented migrants, a key promise of his election campaign.
