(NewsNation) — Customs and Border Protection advisers alongside immigration officials in Panama know many migrants don’t qualify for asylum but are letting them make the dangerous journey to the border anyway, internal documents obtained by NewsNation show.
Officials questioned hundreds of migrants in the Darién Gap, a notoriously treacherous jungle region connecting South and Central America.
Investigators found no reports of migrants leaving their home countries because of political persecution or pressure from gangs or other criminal organizations. Instead, the main “pull factor” identified was economic hardship.
In fact, many of those interviewed say they already have employment set up for them at their destinations.
Most of those talked to were Venezuelans.
Some of those Venezuelan nationals were living in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia before heading north. They also left those countries because of deteriorating economic conditions and fear of being targeted by gangs.
Ultimately, many migrants reported being victims of robberies, assaults and rapes in the middle of the Darién jungle.
However, almost all of the Venezuelans interviewed told officials the potential benefits of making the dangerous trek to the United States outweigh the risk of possibly being repatriated once they arrive.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. just made his second trip to the border— this time in the hardest-hit Tucson sector. Kennedy says that if he wins, he would stop all illegal crossings, including those coming from the Darién Gap.
“I’m making an announcement on day one that it’s over, and I would then begin enforcing the law so nobody gets grace,” he said. “I would also start talking to the presidents of the Central American countries of Ecuador and Colombia and enlist their help in solving this problem internationally.”