Panama praises US contribution to biometrics program for deportation and return

Panama is exploring biometrics as a tool for rooting out people with criminal records. A release from Migracion Panama comments on a memorandum of understanding on illegal migration signed by the governments of Panama and the United States, covering the logistics of deportation and return processes.

In comments made to the ECO TV program Polígrafo de La Estrella de Panamá, Roger Mojica Rivera, general director of the National Migration Service (SNM) says the country is “making progress in the development of biometrics, frequently identifying personnel with criminal records in their countries of origin.” He cites contributions from the U.S. to support transportation, technology and infrastructure to help transfer identified individuals.

Part of the agreement requires SNM to “undertake to present in advance the formal requirements of each deportation and/or expulsion flight, whatever the case, such as dates and number of people already verified, so that they can be duly coordinated and executed, as established in the document in question.”

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometric identifiers  |  biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  data sharing  |  Panama  |  United States