Police Search for Woman Who Escaped Panama Hotel Housing US Deportees
Authorities in Panama are searching for a Chinese woman, Zheng Lijuan, who escaped from a hotel in downtown Panama City where she was being held after being deported from the United States. Her escape highlights the complex and controversial arrangement between the US and Panama under former President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement policies.
Zheng was among 299 migrants from countries such as China, Afghanistan, and Iran—nations with which the US lacks deportation agreements—who were recently transported in shackles to Panama. Officials suspect that she may have received assistance from individuals loitering outside the Decapolis Hotel, where the deportees were being held.
The news of her disappearance coincided with the transfer of 170 other deported migrants to the Darién region, a dense jungle near the Colombian border. According to a Panamanian lawyer representing one of the migrant families, the Panamanian government plans to expand a migrant camp previously used to house those crossing into the country through the dangerous Darién Gap.
Following his election last July, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino signed an agreement with the US to strengthen migration controls. Measures included increased border patrols, barbed wire installations, and deportation flights primarily targeting Ecuadorian and Colombian migrants from the airstrip near Metetí. Amid escalating tensions with the US, including Trump’s threats to “take back” the Panama Canal, Panama has agreed to accept migrants the US cannot easily deport. Mulino has also announced plans to expand Metetí’s runway to accommodate larger aircraft, likely for transatlantic deportation flights.
Representatives of the International Organization for Migration, a UN-affiliated body overseeing aspects of the plan, declined to comment. However, Panama itself lacks repatriation agreements with many of the migrants’ home countries, raising concerns that they could face prolonged detention. According to an individual familiar with the situation, many detainees may be confined indefinitely in a facility that could resemble a "concentration camp."
The prospect of forced repatriation is particularly distressing for many migrants, who fear persecution or even death upon return to their homelands. One such case is Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 27-year-old Iranian English teacher who converted to Christianity. Speaking to the New York Times, she expressed fear of execution under Sharia law if she were deported back to Iran. “Only a miracle can save us,” she said.
On Wednesday afternoon, detainees at the Decapolis Hotel were seen peeking through curtains, with one woman in a hijab waving. A family dressed in red shirts gestured to indicate their phones had been confiscated. Eventually, police arrived and escorted a Guardian reporter from the premises.
Panamanian politicians acknowledge the delicate position their country faces, caught in the geopolitical crossfire of Trump’s immigration agenda. Neighboring Costa Rica also recently agreed to receive 200 migrants from Central Asia and India, a decision that President Rodrigo Chaves admitted was influenced by fears of US trade tariffs. “We’re helping our powerful economic brother in the north,” Chaves stated, “because if [the US] imposes a tax on our export zones, we’re screwed.”
The unfolding situation underscores the far-reaching impact of US immigration policies and the difficult choices faced by countries caught in their wake.
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