Panama foreign minister Erika Mouynes said during an interview this week that she warned the Biden administration about the Haitian migrant crisis that was headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that Panama “sounded the alarm when we should have.”
“Mouynes said there are as many as 60,000 migrants — mostly Haitian — poised to make their way north to the U.S.-Mexico border,” Axios reported. “Panama is expecting more migrants to cross through the dangerous jungles of the Darién Gap this month than in all of 2019 — nearly 27,000.”
“Let’s recognize that they all are heading toward the U.S.,” Mouynes said in calling for the Biden administration to help deal with the crisis, which critics say is happening because of the magnet that the administration’s policies have created that incentivize illegal immigration. “We’ve engaged with every single authority that we can think of, that we can come across, to say, ‘Please, let’s pay attention to this.’”
Axios reported that Mouynes had multiple meetings this week with the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“More than 85,000 migrants have passed through Panama since January — most of them Haitians,” Mouynes said. “Roughly 20,000 to 25,000 Haitians have already made the trek to the U.S.-Mexico border, with most being allowed to enter the United States.”
“We all have a role to play in this issue, and the regional approach is the correct approach,” Mouynes said. “It is impossible for Panama to solve it on its own.”
Her comments come after horrifying images shocked the nation for weeks of up to 30,000 illegal aliens flooding Del Rio, Texas, earlier this month. Approximately 1 in 5 people that have illegally entered the country tested positive for the coronavirus.
“What I didn’t expect was the tragic rise of the delta variant,” Mayorkas said. “And we took a step back by reason of that. I did not expect to be in late September where we are.”
“We are confronted with a population of people that, as a general matter, that have a rate of illness of approximately 20%,” Mayorkas continued. “When one is speaking of 7,000 or 7,500 people encountered at the border every day, if one takes a look at that the system, it is not built for that in a COVID environment where isolation is required.”
Various reports have stated that the U.S. Border Patrol agents are expected to encounter over 2 million illegal aliens on the southern border this year.
Related:
- Del Rio Residents Back Border Patrol Agents Targeted By Biden: ‘Don’t Lie About Them’
- DHS Secretary Says 12K Illegal Migrants Released In U.S. In Recent Weeks: ‘Could Be Even Higher’
- Mayorkas Claims U.S. Borders ‘Not Open’ After Thousands Flood Del Rio, Historic Border Crisis Continues
- Congressman Releases New Photos Of Biden’s Growing Crisis In Del Rio: ‘Has Reached A Boiling Point’
- Biden Admin Takes Horses Away From Border Patrol Agents In Del Rio After They Defended Border