In furtive messages, sent through handmade signs, hidden phones and gestures behind glass, some of the migrants expressed a sense of constant, overwhelming fear.
Most did not want their faces to be seen, fearful of repercussions for being photographed by journalists. We did as much window-to-window communication as we could.
In the central room, Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 27-year-old migrant from Iran, scrawled “Help” on the window in lipstick. She was one of the few who did not conceal their face.
Outside, my colleague, the New York Times reporter Julie Turkewitz, held up a notebook with her phone number, written for the migrants to see from their rooms — and message if they could.
We learned that the 10 Iranian migrants had converted to Christianity, which according to Iran’s Shariah law, is a crime punishable by death. They had illegally entered the United States in the last month, and were detained in San Diego before being deported to Panama.
We learned, too, that many of the migrants had arrived at the U.S. border from such countries as Afghanistan and China, hoping to seek asylum. Now they are trapped in Panama, where the Trump administration sent them because those nations will not accept them, or for other reasons.
Officials in Panama say they are adhering to international protocols in their treatment of the migrants, and that two United Nations organizations oversee the migrants. Lawyers in the country say it is illegal to detain people without a court order for more than 24 hours.
In the room below Ms. Ghasemzadeh, we established contact with three Chinese nationals. One man wrote “China” and his phone number in toothpaste on the window.
He held up a Chinese-language Bible and a crucifix to the window. He gave his surname as Wang, but in an interview expressed fear about being identified, saying it could be used against him if he were forcibly returned. “I would rather jump off a plane than go back to China,” he said.
Since the above picture was taken last week, officials in Panama have said that more than half of the migrants have agreed to be deported to their countries of origin.
Among them are the two Indian migrants, who entered the United States on Jan. 29 after a two-year journey, intending to seek asylum. Guards restrained them with handcuffs on their feet and hands.
In an interview from the hotel, they said they had signed papers to be deported back to India, and that they would not complain. They had been given medical treatment, food and a place to sleep, they said.
Migrants who did not agree to be deported would be taken to a detention camp on the outskirts of the jungle known as the Darién Gap, Panama’s security minister said. He described the decision to hold the migrants as part of an accord with the United States. Nearly 100 have already been moved from the hotel to the camp.
We have yet to see the migrants there, and even in downtown Panama City we could only see so much. Some people closed their curtains or stayed out of view. To the right of Mr. Wang’s room, someone paced back and forth between the bed and a night stand, the lights off.
We glimpsed just restless moving feet.
Alan Yuhas contributed.
