In stored messages, sent by handmade signs, hidden phones and gestures behind the glass, some migrants expressed a sense of constant, irresistible fear.
Most did not want their faces to be seen, in fear of the consequences because of photographing journalists. We made as many windows to the window as possible.
In the central room of Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 27-year-old migrant from Iran, she took out a “help” on the window in the rose. She was one of the few who did not conceal their face.
Outside, my colleague, New York Times journalist Julie Turkewitz, held a notebook with her phone number, written for migrants to see from her rooms – and I can.
We learned that 10 Iranian migrants turned into Christianity, which under the Iranian Sharia law is a crime punishable by death. They have entered the United States illegally in the last month, and have been detained in San Diego before they were deported in Panama.
We also learned that many migrants arrived at the US border from countries like Afghanistan and China, hoping to seek asylum. They are now trapped in Panama, where Trump’s administration sent them because these nations will not accept them or for other reasons.
Panama officials say that they adhere to international protocols in the treatment of migrants and that two united nations organizations are monitored by migrants. Lawyers in the country say it is illegal to keep people without a court order for more than 24 hours.
In the room below Mrs. Ghasemzadeh we made contact with three Chinese nationals. One man wrote “China” and his phone number in the toothpaste on the window.
He held the Bible in Chinese and crucified to the window. He gave his surname as Wang, but in an interview he expressed the fear of identifying, saying that he could be used against him if he returned forcibly. “I would rather jump out of the plane than to go back to China,” he said.
Since the upper picture was taken last week, officials in Panama said it was more than half of migrants agreed to be deported to their countries of origin.
Among them are two Indian migrants, who entered the United States on January 29 after a two -year trip, intending to look for asylum. The guards restrained them with foxes on their feet and hands.
In an interview from the hotel, they said they had signed the deportation papers back to India and would not complain. They got medical treatment, food and a place to sleep, they said.
Migrants who did not agree to deport would be taken to the detention camp on the outskirts of the jungle known as Darién Gap, said the Panaman Minister of Security. He described the decision to keep migrants as part of an agreement with the United States. Almost 100 was already moved from the hotel to camp.
We still have to see migrants there and even in the city in Panama, we could only see so much. Some closed the curtains or remained out of sight. On the right side of Mr. Wang’s room, someone walked forward -even between the bed and the night stand, the light.
We only saw restless moving legs.
Alan Yuhas contributed.
