international

Fate of illegal workers held in U.S. still up in the air

A total of 52 Panamanians were taken into custody last month in an U.S. immigration raid.

It is unclear whether all will be deported, or if some will be allowed to remain in the U.S.

LA PRENSA

In custody: Of the 52 Panamanians taken into custody in the U.S. last month, the majority are being held in a detention facility in Lousiana.1095564

Investigators uncovered a network stretching from Panama City to the United States that forged work permits for 52 Panamanians who were charged with entering the U.S. illegally last month in a raid at a factory in Mississippi.

The Panamanians were among 590 illegal workers that were taken into custody during the raid, the largest of its kind in U.S. history.

Of the Panamanians, 42 are being held in a detention center in La Salle, Louisiana. The rest were released but are being kept under surveillance with electronic devices, which prevents them from leaving Mississippi. This group includes mothers with young children and two men with health problems.

All of them are scheduled to appear before an immigration judge, who is expected to deport them. Of those in custody, 12 have announced their intention to try and remain in the United States.

U.S. immigration authorities said that the first deportations would take place this month.

Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro said that an investigation has started into how the workers entered the United States.

“What is at issue, it seems, is that there is a network of human traffickers, and that is a crime that needs to be investigated,” Navarro said.

Prosecutor Leonila Gaytán, who is assigned to the case, said the investigation is in its initial stages. Last week, he received a report prepared by staff of the Foreign Ministry, and now she is awaiting the Panamanian detainees to return to the country so they can give an affidavit. Until this happens, Gaytán has commissioned the Dirección de Investigación Judicial (DIJ) to begin looking for evidence of human trafficking. Officials with the U.S. embassy in Panama have declined to comment about the case because of the ongoing investigation. One important issue that has yet to be resolved is what will happen to the property, such as cars and furniture, of those being deported. It is also unknown who will bear the cost of deportation.

Navarro has already stated that the Panamanian government will not pay this cost.

“I do not see how the state has to reward anyone who has committed an illegal act,” Navarro said.