The administration has asked Panama to take in hundreds of people who can’t easily be sent back to their countries. Many say they are in danger.

Hundreds of migrants, many from the Middle East and China, are in custody in Panama after they were deported from the U.S. as part of an agreement between the two nations. Held in a hotel in Panama City,

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday he has instructed the country's foreign minister to reject talk of Chinese influence over the Panama Canal in

The U.S. has deported more than 400 migrants — from nations as far as China and Vietnam — to Panama and Costa Rica, leaving them in legal limbo.

President Donald Trump has made repeated claims that China “operates” the Panama Canal in recent weeks and has threatened to take back the waterway to block what he sees as Beijing’s increasing influence.

Beijing and Washington are also at loggerheads over another waterway in the Americas: the Panama Canal. Trump said China has gained control over the canal—a claim both Panama City and Beijing have denied.

Panama is in danger of becoming a case study of how an American hard-power win could become a soft-power loss. America did not need to resort to threats to combat Chinese influence in Panama, says Nehemías Jaén,

Rarely do Panamanians unite on political topics, but threats to the ownership of the canal go to the heart of national identity and erase ideological differences.