Migrants who once braved the Darien Gap — a deadly stretch of dense jungle between Colombia and Panama — on journeys toward the the United States are now making the same journey in reverse. The deportation push by US President Donald Trump has left them with no realistic way of making a life in the United States.

These return journeys are mostly invisible. Migrants are untracked, unprotected and exposed to sexual violence, trafficking, exploitation, and a severe lack of food and clean water along the way.

And, in many cases, the places people are returning to remain deeply unstable.

Deportations en masse

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in June, 23% of Americans worry that they or someone close to them could face deportation. People at risk of deportation include longtime residents, children, families and even visa holders who once believed they were legally protected.

Since beginning his second term, US President Donald Trump has launched what he has described as "the largest domestic deportation operation" in US history. The administration has sent........

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