On February 2, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the President of Panama José Raúl Mulino stated that the memorandum of understanding for the repatriation and deportation of irregular migrants, which was signed last July, will be expanded.
The first US Air Force flight, carrying 119 deportees, arrived in Panama from California on Wednesday, February 12. The deportees were of ten different nationalities, the most being from China. No one of Irish nationality was on the February 12 flight, according to Panama's Foreign Ministry.
Panama's Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Ruiz Hernández said the following day that the initial 119 deportees had been detained after crossing the US border and did not have criminal records.
President of Panama José Raúl Mulino separately said the following day that three flights with about 360 people were expected to arrive in total.
The deportees have been held at the Decápolis Hotel in Panama City under police guard.
In a press conference on Tuesday, February 18, Panama's Minister for Security Frank Ábrego said 171 of the 299 US deportees that had arrived in Panama had agreed to return voluntarily to their respective countries with help from the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency.
Among them, Ábrego said on Tuesday, was an Irish citizen who he understood had already returned to Dublin.
This person is believed to be the first Irish citizen to be deported from the US under the new Trump administration.
The following day, Panama's Ministry of Public Security said that more than 170 of the deportees had agreed to voluntarily return home. A number of flights had already been secured while others were waiting for travel arrangements.
However, the Ministry added that about 100 of the deportees were being transferred to the San Vicente shelter in Darien.
Citing the National Immigration Service, the Ministry said on Wednesday that 13 of the deportees had already returned to their home countries.
According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE's) most recent annual report, 60 Irish citizens were removed from the US during fiscal year 2024.
This was the highest figure in recent years - 37 Irish citizens were removed in 2023, 17 in 2022, 10 in 2021, 19 in 2020, and 33 in 2019.
Meanwhile, ICE's new Enforcement and Removal Operations Statistics dashboard provides information and trends in arrests, detentions, removals, and alternatives to detention from October 2020 through September 2024.
In that period, 71 Irish citizens were arrested by ICE, 149 Irish citizens were detained, and 124 Irish citizens were removed.
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