Acting homeland security secretary Kevin McAleenan will travel to Panama City on Wednesday to meet with the country’s newly elected president, Laurentino Cortizo, to “discuss regional cooperation to confront irregular migration,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The visit is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to secure “safe third country” agreements across the hemisphere that will enable U.S. authorities to reject asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border and send them to other countries willing to offer refuge.
McAleenan reached an accord last month with the Guatemalan government that, if implemented, would allow the United States to ship Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers there. The acting secretary said he is seeking similar deals in Panama, Brazil and El Salvador, part of what he described as a multilateral effort to align asylum policies across the region among “source, transit and destination countries.”
The goal, according to McAleenan, is for those fleeing persecution to find safety in the closest possible place to their home countries, instead of hiring smugglers for the long and dangerous journey to the United States.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday morning before departing for Panama, McAleenan said the purpose of his trip was part of a “broader agenda,” not to negotiate a specific agreement.