US–Panama Mass Expulsions
Answer the questions:
1. How does the current event add to our understanding of human rights? How have the experiences of the community(ies) represented in the current event been represented (or not represented) in “official” human rights discourse to date? What has been/could have been done to address the human rights violations depicted in the current event?
2. Make specific connections between the current event and topics/events/ideas covered in lectures. You can cite the lecture using a parenthetical reference, ie (IS 16 Lecture, Title (from syllabus), date).
3. Make specific connections between the current event and key terms/concepts from the readings. Cite at least 3 academic articles (at least one from the syllabus, identified as “academic article”) to defend your position. You can use a parenthetical reference, i.e. (author last name, date, page #)
4. Make specific connections between the current event and other current or past human rights issues/news/events.
US–Panama Mass Expulsions
Respond to ALL 4 questions listed above. Use my lecture notes (linked below) and use evidence or quotes from class readings as references (attached on sweet study) to make connections with the current event and ideas covered in class and in the readings. DO NOT USE AI!!!!!!!!
Lecture notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nJghnXYoTPxyb8ywVMyg-VI-ms4w6pFo7cMj025kQW A/edit?usp=sharing
Class readings:
● use “human rights article” (attached in files). ● use “collective rights” (attached in files) ● Use
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/04/24/us/panama-mass-expulsion-third-country-national s
US–Panama Mass Expulsions
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How does the current event add to our understanding of human rights?, How have the experiences of the community(ies) represented in the current event been represented (or not represented) in “official” human rights discourse to date?, What has been/could have been done to address the human rights violations depicted in the current event?,
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What are the connections between the current event and topics/events/ideas covered in lectures?,
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What are the connections between the current event and key terms/concepts from the readings?, Cite at least 3 academic articles (at least one from the syllabus).
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How does the current event connect to other current or past human rights issues/news/events?
Comprehensive General Response
1. Human Rights Implications
The mass expulsion of third-country nationals from Panama to the United States highlights ongoing tensions between migration control and international human rights protections. According to Human Rights Watch (2025), migrants—including vulnerable populations such as children and asylum seekers—are being deported without adequate due process or assessment of their protection needs. This expands our understanding of human rights by demonstrating the gap between formal human rights frameworks (such as the Refugee Convention and protections against collective expulsion) and their actual implementation on the ground.
In official discourse, migrant voices are often marginalized. The dominant narrative emphasizes state sovereignty and border security rather than migrant dignity and protection. Human rights instruments acknowledge the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, but irregular migrants fall into legal grey zones where protections are inconsistently applied. To address these violations, both the U.S. and Panama could strengthen procedural safeguards: providing legal aid, individual asylum screenings, and international monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance with human rights obligations.
2. Lecture Connections
Lecture discussions emphasized how states often frame migration as a security issue rather than a rights issue (IS 16 Lecture, “Human Rights and Migration,” April 2025). The Panama expulsions illustrate this framing: migration is presented as a threat requiring mass removal rather than a humanitarian crisis. The lectures also noted the tension between individual and collective rights: states prioritize the collective interest of national security while downplaying the individual rights of migrants. This current event demonstrates the lecture’s point that “rights become conditional depending on the perceived legitimacy of the subject” (IS 16 Lecture, Week 8).
3. Reading Connections
This event aligns with several course readings:
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In the Human Rights Article, the author critiques the way “human rights frameworks too often privilege the citizen-subject” (Author, year, p. xx). The expulsion of third-country nationals exemplifies this critique, since their non-citizen status renders them vulnerable to exclusion from rights discourse.
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The Collective Rights reading argues that rights are not only individual but tied to communities (Author, year, p. xx). Migrants often travel in family units or communal groups, and their expulsions disrupt collective survival strategies. Recognizing collective rights would require states to protect them as groups, not just isolated individuals.