By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - According to AM Costa Rica and posts on English language message boards, border control officials in Costa Rica at the Paso Canoas border crossing are preventing everyone but Panamanian citizens from leaving. Supposedly the President of Costa Rica flew to the border crossing last Friday and gave the order personally. At the time about 42 Costa Rican tourists were being held "hostage" by the protesting indigenous Ngäbe-Bugle Indians on the Inter American highway. Presumably, the Costa Rican officials decided to prevent anyone other than Panamanians from crossing into the conflict area, for their own safety and protection. Of course, this being a part of the third world, some people were simply paying low level officials bribes to circumvent the restriction.

Copyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

Panama’s Ministry of Public Security has awarded On Track Innovations (OTI) a contract for the supply, design, installation and integration of systems to monitor and improve immigration verification processes and overall immigration flow. OTI says it expects to achieve revenues of approximately US$6.9 million, with the potential for additional revenue in future years from follow-on contracts. The contract provides for the supply of OTI’s immigration solution, based on its proprietary eID Magna platform. The solution includes data enrollment and issuing stations, as well as individual means to verify identity tied to the Biometric Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). “We are happy to expand our footprint in Latin America to support Panama’s efforts to improve identity verification at their borders,” says Oded Bashan, chairman and CEO of OTI. “By deploying our solution, Panama is taking firm control of immigration security and identity to diminish the substantial risks and costs of illegal immigration and identity theft.”

According to the company, its Magna modular platform enables short implementation time frames and seamless integration with a country’s existing border control system. It also provides external interfaces to a digital Certificate Authority for signature verification. The system is compliant with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and offers a migration path to additional eGovernment applications and eID documents such as national IDs, voter IDs and driving licences.   

Every week Panama arrests an average of 30 Cubans who are trying to reach the United States, a situation that is becoming a "concern" for the country, said Thursday the Director of the National Immigration Service, Javier Carrillo. "We are capturing about 30 Cubans per week, which is a lot for us," Carrillo said in a meeting with foreign correspondents. He added that since August 2011, Cuban immigrants have been gaining entry into Panama from Colombia through the jungles of the Darien (the border between the two countries), which has intensified recently.

He said the Cubans arrive in Ecuador, where there is no visa required, and from there they enter Colombia to continue a journey through Central America to reach the United States. "We have some problems with the Southern area where some countries have open immigration policies. We are being invaded by Cubans," said Carrillo, who called this fact "worrying". Overcrowding in the holding cells where the captured illegal immigrants are taken complicates the picture, and what's more, when they try to deport them to Cuba, that country's authorities reject them.

The complications caused by the illegal entry of Cubans to Central America will be one of the primary topics to be discussed by the Directors of Immigration from the United States, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Panama on 2 and 3 February in Panama. "We will focus on this issue of human trafficking. We're having a big problem that affects us all," lamented Carrillo, for whom one of the measures against the problem would be to ask Ecuador "to start to require Cubans to have a visa." (Telemetro)

Editor's Comment: It's funny how people and things come out of the Darien jungle in Panama, trying to make it all the way to the United States.    

Panama's " Defensoría del Pueblo" (Human Rights Ombudsman) will investigate allegations of human rights violations of some 25 foreign women who are currently being detained in the holding cell of the National Immigration Service, located on Avenida Peru. This was announced by the Ombudsman Patria Portugal, after she made a surprise visit to the facilities of the National Immigration Service to receive complaints from the detainees. "The detainees say the authorities have been slow in resolving their processes, and they have been stripped naked, which is why we are investigating," she told local media. She added there is overcrowding in the holding cells and the 25 women (10 Cubans, 7 Nicaraguans, 7 Colombians, and one Dominican) only have 22 beds. According to officials from the National Immigration Service, the delay of the proceedings has been caused by the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), said Portugal. (Panama America)

Editor's Comment: Great! I think the Ombudsman should always know (receive regular reports) on how many people are being detained, anywhere in the country, at any time. And something like this - 25 women in a temporary holding cell only designed to sleep 22 - would instantly become apparent. Every foreigner who is arrested or detained in Panama for any reason should be handed a pamphlet written in their native language with details on the law, their rights, and what they should do in case of abuses. Anyway, I'm glad to see this - it's a step in the right direction. Immigration in Panama has traditionally been one of the biggest "producers" for corrupt government officials who suck bribes out of defenseless foreigners in exceptionally vulnerable situations. Remember that the former director of Immigration Maria Christina Gonzalez was fired by Martinelli for these kinds of abuses. Any case against her? Investigation? Charges? Nope. She's fired, and that's it...   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - There are many who live as "perpetual tourists" - people who initially come to the Republic of Panama as tourists - and then they basically stay and live here forever in the same status as a tourist without obtaining some other sort of more permanent or legal residency status. Tourists who come to Panama can stay here for a maximum of 90 days, but then the government of Panama can grant a 90 extension to a total of 180 days (more later.) But no matter what, any tourist who overstays past the 180 day limit are then in an illegal status with regards to the National Immigration Service. By doing this they are exposing themselves to the potential for arrest, fines, and deportation. In order to remain in a legal status with regards to the Panamanian National Immigration Service, these "perpetual tourists" have to leave the country regularly in order to "reset" the tourist visa status with a new date of entry. People commonly travel to the international border with Costa Rica at Paso Canoas in order to accomplish and comply with the requirement of leaving the country, at least temporarily. I call this the "border hop two-step" because the perpetual tourists have to simply "hop" across the border and enter Costa Rica (or any other country) and then return to Panama (step two) in order to reset their tourist status for another 180 days. Recently there have been interesting and lively discussions between members of the English speaking expatriate community on a couple of the different Internet forums regarding the details of the requirements that must be met, tricks and techniques on how to go about doing this "border hop two step," and the potential risks involved. I thought I knew enough about the details of this particular issue but now it appears I was wrong, and that I was holding as true some commonly held perceptions that are not, in fact, contained in the underlying law. So, I did my own investigation and now I'm writing this article in order to set the record straight. (more)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (2,588 words)

They entered illegally. During the recent "melting pot" program, the authorities of the National Immigration Service and the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (IMELCF) found in the capital city there were 106 foreigners who committed the crime of duplication of documents. The same situation was repeated in Chitré with 31 people. Abdiel Renteria, the Deputy Director of Criminology, said they found individuals who entered the country using two different names but with the same fingerprints, proving they had falsified their travel documents. Some of these people had criminal records. (Dia a Dia)

Editor's Comment: So, it took them awhile to run matches on the prints of the people they have processed during these recent "melting pot" programs. I know they arrested a whole bunch of people who had legal cases pending against them, as well as wants and warrants. And now they've uncovered 137 people who applied to try to obtain a legal residency status in Panama using false passports or other documents. Now they will be arrested and deported. Well, no real change actually - they were already living here illegally. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?   

#Panama - A new round of "extraordinary migratory regularization" is being held by the National Immigration Service, this time in Chitre, province of Herrera, for foreigners living inside the country. This will be the eighth time Immigration has performed what they call the "Panama Melting Pot" event, which will run from 21 to 25 November 2011. During this event in Chitre, foreigners who reside in the four central provinces will have the opportunity to make the necessary arrangements (to legalize their immigration status.) Previously, Immigration has conducted seven other regularization events for foreigners, during which 16,200 citizens from other countries have taken steps to normalize their status in Panama. Of that amount, the majority are Colombians, because during the seven prior events, about 8,000 Colombians heeded the call. In second place are citizens of Nicaragua with 3,600, followed by foreigners from the Dominican Republic, Peru and Venezuela. (Siglo)

Editor's Comment: So that's 16,200 foreigners who were illegal aliens before, and who have legal residence and work permits after. That means they can go on the books, pay social security and income taxes, and leave the "grey market" workforce. People who are in Panama and working illegally from countries like Colombia can find jobs, but they typically get paid about 25% less than minimum wage, and they have no protections under the law. If they complain they get deported. The Panamanian economy is growing in leaps and bounds and creating more new jobs every day, and this is one way the government is addressing the issue, by legalizing foreigners who have been living here illegally for a long time.   

#Panama - During the first ten months of 2011, the National Immigration Service has deported 304 foreigners to their country of origin, including; 109 Colombians, 91 Nicaraguans, 21 Bangladeshis, 9 Dominicans, 7 from Pakistan, and 6 from Nepal, as well as 61 from other nationalities. Field activities will be maintained and strengthened in the last months of the year, with the aim of enforcing the laws and preventing the entry of foreign nationals wishing to enter the country illegally, as established by Decree Law No. 3 of February 22, 2008. The National Immigration Service has been spent nearly $400,000 dollars so far this year to deport these illegal aliens. Among the reasons for deportation includes using false documents, economic insolvency, or for having an impediment to entry, among other reasons. During the same period last year Immigration deported some 592 foreigners to their country of origin. (Panama America)

   

#Panama - A total of 13 foreigners were arrested during the course of the "immigration fair" held last week by the National Immigration Service at the Roberto Duran gym, as part of a program that allows foreigners who have been living in the country illegally for a long time to normalize their immigration status and obtain work permits. According to the Deputy Director of Immigration, Rolando Lopez, the foreigners were detected through the use of the bio-metric screening system, used to filter applicants. Some of those arrested had cases pending for "crimes against the public faith" (fraud), while others had standing orders against them preventing them from entering Panama. Immigration attended to more than 2,000 applicants during this fair, which ended yesterday. (Prensa)

Editor's Comment: That's more than 2,000 people who - up until last week - were here in the country illegally and working off of the books to feed themselves and their families. Now, thanks to this program, they are here legally, have work permits, they can get regular jobs, pay taxes, contribute to the Social Security system, etc. I like this program. I think it's a great idea, and what's more it adds more legal employees to a Panamanian economy that's experiencing a labor shortfall right now. There's a practical unemployment rate of 0% right now in Panama, because there are more jobs and opportunities than there are people to fill them. Salaries are rising and people are jumping from one company to another in search of better offers and better opportunities. Now, can you find people who are out of work? Of course you can. They normally have a sixth grade education, they have children but they're not married, they have some kind of addiction or substance abuse issue, or they've got a rap sheet that stretches from here to Multi Plaza. And on top of a whole string of inappropriate life choices, they're generally lazy. In Panama these are the people who account for the "unemployment rate" now hovering somewhere between 4% to 5% officially - but in reality that should be termed the "umemployable rate" - people who either won't or can't get a job no matter what.   

The Second Criminal Court rejected a controversial incident brought against an order to investigate a group of former employees of the National Immigration Service, accused of crimes against the security of information technology law, against humanity (human trafficking) and against public administration. The court's decision indicates the incident looked to set aside the order of investigation against Boris Baúles Núñez and Vladimir Ruiz, in a process being managed by the Special Prosecutor Against Organized Crime, which accuses the defendants of modifying the restrictions on entry or departure of foreign nationals. According to the investigations, between December 2007 and January 2010, Immigration authorities detected 15,363 modifications to the bans on entry or departure, made ​​fraudulently. (Prensa)