Illegal crossing enablers cry broke under Trump's border crackdown: '$200 a day without fail'

Residents living around the Darién Gap, a jungle passage between Colombia and Panama, who once collected significant profits by aiding immigrants seeking to illegally cross into the U.S., are now crying broke under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

On Wednesday, the Associated Press published a report on the local economies' recent collapse, featuring interviews with several locals.

'When Donald Trump won, everything came to a screeching halt.'

While the outlet stopped short of attributing the wave of illegal immigration to the former Biden administration's open border policies, it noted that local farmers traded in their agricultural jobs to pounce on the opportunity to profit off the immigration boom.

Manuel Orozco with the Inter-American Dialogue told the news outlet that the immigration spike around 2021 "became a business opportunity for a lot of people," including criminal organizations.

"It's like you've discovered a gold mine, but once it dries up … you either leave the area and go to the city or stay living in poverty," Orozco explained.

Instead of tending to their plantain and rice farms, Villa Caleta residents invested in boats to carry migrants down the rivers.

The AP spoke with one of those residents, 63-year-old Luis Olea, who explained that before Trump took office, "We lived off the migration."

"But now that's all gone," Olea said.

The AP noted that boat pilots, called lacheros, could make up to $300 per day transporting the migrants but only $150 a month on farming.

Amid the immigration boom, the towns within the Darién Gap came to an arrangement to take turns transporting individuals by boat so that each community could have a chance to turn a profit.

Cholino de Gracia, a community leader, told the outlet that not all of the residents were prepared for the drop in traffic.

According to Panamanian authorities, at its height, roughly 2,500 to 3,000 individuals traversed the Darién Gap each day. Now, with Trump in office, that number has plummeted to about 10 per week.

"The worst part is that some people struggle to eat, because without any income and no supermarkets here, what can people buy?" de Garcia questioned.

Olea reportedly returned to farming plantains.

Pedro Chami, 56, another boat pilot, told the AP that he also previously walked away from farming. With few immigrants traveling through the area, he has since taken up wood carving.

"I'm trying this to see if things get better, see if I can buy some food," Chami stated. "Before, I would always have my $200 a day without fail. Now, I don't even have a cent."

Zobeida Concepción, 55, told the news outlet, "When Donald Trump won, everything came to a screeching halt."

Concepción and her family sold goods to migrants traveling through. She stated that she plans to stay in the area in the event another opportunity arises under a future U.S. administration.

"When another government enters, you never know what opportunities there will be," Concepción remarked.

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