Newsweek is reporting that migration through Panama's Darién Gap has fallen sharply since the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a development it said has drawn far less public attention than the border debate that preceded it.
It said the International Organization for Migration recorded only 135 migrants making irregular transits through the Darién Gap in the first four months of the year, a period that included President Donald Trump's capture of Maduro in January. Newsweek said that figure was down 95 percent from the same period in 2025. It said Honduras, the origin of the latest migrant caravan, saw a 79 percent decline, and that by June the IOM concluded movement through the Darién was 97 percent lower than in the first half of 2024.
Newsweek said the decline suggests deterrence may have changed migration patterns, a possibility it described as inconvenient both for Trump's critics and for Republicans heading into the midterms. It said Americans have largely stopped noticing the shift.
Separately, Newsweek said it is publishing a members-only piece outlining five signs that what it called Trump's long-promised victory over Iran is taking shape, and asking whether he can deliver it fully.
It also said competition with China is driving unusually broad consensus on Capitol Hill over artificial intelligence legislation, and that a nationwide backlash is pushing candidates onto unfamiliar ground over data centers.
Newsweek said a reader wrote in to express anger at the outlet, and its editor-in-chief, Jennifer H. Cunningham, said the publication follows facts rather than factions and offers readers reporting they can trust.