Trump official says US willing to replicate Panama migrant deal

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  • Trump official says US willing to replicate Panama migrant deal

President Donald Trump's Homeland Security chief on Tuesday praised a US agreement with Panama on migrant repatriation flights and said Washington was ready to replicate it with other countries. Under an agreement signed last July by the administration of Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, Washington finances the repatriation of irregular migrants who enter Panama overland from Colombia.

During a visit to the Central American nation, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the United States was willing to pay other countries to do the same. More than 2,300 migrants have been deported from Panama on around 50 flights so far under the agreement. Noem observed the departure of one such flight Tuesday carrying Colombian migrants. She also met President Jose Raul Mulino and other senior Panamanian officials.

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