The United States has deported 119 asylum seekers of various nationalities to Panama, including Iranian nationals who claim they were transferred without notice or deportation documentation, IntelliNews learned on February 15.

The group of deportees from the US includes nationals from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. None reportedly signed deportation papers before their transfer to Panama in what appears to be the latest push by the Trump administration to export immigrants to other American countries.

Several Iranian asylum seekers report entering the US through the Tijuana border between one week to one month ago. "I myself am a protester from Iran. I have a case. I can't go back," one of the deportees stated. "Each came because of different massacres."

The group describes being told they were being transferred to a camp in Texas due to overcrowding in California facilities. Instead, they found themselves on a military aircraft.

"They were all army. Their faces weren't visible. Only their eyes were," one deportee recounted. "Whatever we asked about where we were going, they said they were transferring us."

Individuals with medical conditions were identified with red bracelets during the approximately seven-hour flight from the US to Panama, according to the video on social media.

"Women and children were all becoming worse," the source reported. Upon landing in Panama, the group was reportedly prevented from speaking with journalists at the scene.

The new video from the Iranian women, men and children now stranded in the Central American country is the latest push by the Trump administration to force other countries to deal with illegal migrants and asylum seekers entering the country.

Foreign nationals, including Indian, Syrian, Iranian and others, have used routes via Venezuela to reach the Americas in recent years, with the previous Biden administration permitting entrance through official channels using an app which has now ceased functioning, according to those who entered the US. However, since the start of the second Trump administration, people attempting to enter from Mexico have been turned around, including those who have already entered the US.

"Through a cooperation programme with the US government... yesterday a US Air Force flight arrived with 119 people of the most diverse nationalities in the world," Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino confirmed at a news conference on February 14.

Currently, some deportees report being held in a hotel identified as the "Megalopolis Hotel" in Panama. "We don't even have money. We can't leave the hotel," one person stated.

"Panama can't forcibly return us. They just insist on taking our fingerprints to send us back because our fingerprints were erased from America, claiming we no longer exist."

Following the release of the video, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned the treatment, calling it "inappropriate and humiliating" and "a violation of human rights standards."

He confirmed that Iran's diplomatic missions across South America have been instructed to assist affected nationals and that the Iranian government would “take all the necessary measures to protect Iranian citizens abroad.”

"Iran is the homeland of all Iranians, and our compatriots can freely return to their homeland," Baqaei stated, indicating Iran's readiness to facilitate returns.

According to Panamanian President Mulino, two additional flights are scheduled, potentially bringing the total number of deportees to 360. The deportees will be transferred to a shelter near the Darién region before being returned to their respective countries.