The Darien Gap, a hazardous area of dense jungle on the Colombia-Panama border that is frequently traveled by migrant workers headed to the US, is where the US said on Tuesday that it would broaden its interagency effort to combat human trafficking.
The US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security declared that both nations would be included in Joint Task Force Alpha, a specialist group established in June 2021 to look into and prosecute those smuggling.
The task force has previously operated in Mexico as well as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, three nations in Central America.
“We are expanding our enforcement efforts to the Darien among the most dangerous migrant crossings on Earth and deploying rewards programs like the ones that have brought down drug kingpins to pursue human smugglers,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
“To those who traffic human beings through the Darien, know this: the full force of the US government is coming for you.”
Simultaneously, the State Department declared that it would provide $8 million in incentives for any information resulting in the apprehending or dismantling of the Gulf Clan’s networks for human trafficking.
Crossing the Darien Gap exposes migrants to dangerous terrain, untamed wildlife, and ruthless criminal groups that abduct, extort, and torture them.
Many of them are from South America and have been traveling from Central America into Mexico in an attempt to reach the United States in recent years.
In the first four months of 2024, over 30,000 migrant children crossed the border, according to a report released by UNICEF last month. This is a 40% increase over the same period the previous year.
Every year, some 2.8 million unauthorized immigrants enter the country.
Immigration has become a crucial topic in the US presidential contest between Democratic Front-runner Joe Biden and presumed Republican opponent Donald Trump as the campaign heats up.
The outgoing president has threatened to carry out a large-scale deportation operation if Biden is brought back to the White House, accusing him of permitting a “invasion” at the US-Mexico border.
In an effort to counter Republican criticism, Biden recently signed an executive order prohibiting illegal immigrants from requesting asylum when their numbers surpass 2,500 in a single day.
