In August 2023, under Joe Biden, approximately 82,000 people crossed the dangerous Darien Gap, most of them attempting to get to the United States and cross our border illegally. While the numbers weren’t always that big during what may have been some of the worst four years in American history, they remained pretty steady. Axios reports that “During the Biden administration, monthly traffic in the Darien Gap ranged from a few thousand to tens of thousands,” and “Nearly half a million people made it through the jungle pathway in 11 months in 2023.”
And those are just the ones that survived the harrowing journey.
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that those numbers have dropped significantly. In May of this year, only 13 people made the journey, and in June, the total was only 10. What a difference a president with common sense makes, right?
Donald Trump’s dedication to securing the border and deporting people who are in the country illegally has, of course, played a major role in this massive drop in numbers, as has Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino, who has taken steps to shut down major migrant transit centers in the area. He said it was a must for Panamanian security and the security of the entire region. Many on the left don’t seem to realize that our open borders aren’t just a national security nightmare for us, but they also make things difficult for the smaller Central American countries that are part of the migrants’ journey to the U.S., too.
I’ve witnessed it first-hand in Costa Rica — homeless Venezuelans sleeping in the streets, blocking traffic, and preventing people from going into local businesses. A friend there once told me it was almost like a switch flipped with Biden took office. He told me stories of how it made him late for work.
This is why I get so annoyed when the left claims that those on the right don’t care about “brown people.” On the contrary, opening our borders harms the law-abiding citizens of Latin America.
Related for VIPs: The Significance of the Darien Gap
On top of that, if you cared about anyone at all, you’d deter them from crossing the Darien Gap. Threats are both human and environmental.
“The dangerous Darien Gap trek is notorious for exposing migrants, including children and the most vulnerable, to sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Here’s how Doctors of the World describes the 100-mile-long and 30-mile-wide area that connects Panama to Colombia:
The environment presents a massive challenge. This is one of the wettest regions in the world and there is thick, deep mud everywhere, making the hike ever more hazardous. Frequent rainfall can trigger landslides in the mountainous terrain. The jungle is massive and disorienting: it’s easy to get lost and many make the trek with no map and few resources. Temperatures can reach 95°F with high humidity, exacerbating dehydration and hunger. There are poisonous snakes and other creatures that can cause serious bodily harm. Mosquitoes and lack of clean water also increases exposure to disease.
However, the environment is only a small portion of the dangers that migrants face in the region. The most violent threats come from the gangs, cartels and smugglers that transverse the area. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Gulf Clan, a paramilitary group and Colombia’s largest drug cartel, both make their presence known. They are frequently reported for extorting and sexually assaulting migrants. Some migrants that can afford to pay guides or ‘coyotes’ may end up in the hands of human traffickers that take advantage of their desperation. Robbery, rape and human trafficking are frequently reported in the crossing, however the exact number is difficult to track. Rape, in particular, is used as a weapon by the cartels to humiliate migrant women and establish their dominance.
The majority of migrants who attempt to cross are from Venezuela, both the people desperately fleeing the country’s collapse and the violent gang members most likely sent to cause chaos in the United States. If leftists truly cared about brown people, they’d be going after Nicolás Maduro, not President Trump. These numbers are a win for all of us in North America. They’re a win for national security and a win against mass migration.
The mainstream media will never celebrate this win. We will. Help us joint the fight for sanity by becoming a PJ Media VIP member. You get some cool perks, but you also help keep us in business so there are more conservative voices standing up against the leftist noise. There’s no better time to join. Right now, we’re running a special. Memberships are 60% off. Click here to sign up and use the code word FIGHT to get the discount. We’ll see you in the comments sections.
