In One Image No Exit By Federico Rios
On floor after floor of Panama City’s soaring Decapolis Hotel, people huddled around the windows of rooms they could not leave.
They were among roughly 300 migrants from all around the world, deported by the United States to Panama. There, they were barred from leaving the hotel or meeting lawyers.
Two women from Cameroon and a family of Iranians stood by the glass here. One woman held up a napkin with the words “HELP US” written on it.
Two Iranian families, converts to Christianity, gathered in this room, all but one person terrified of letting their faces be seen. At night they prayed together.
Several women in this room wore the gray sweatshirts typically issued in U.S. detention centers. Some made frantic gestures or tried to shout. The thick glass muted their voices.
Two deportees from India slept with the TV on, as though tourists free to use the hotel pool or visit the casino across the street. But armed guards prevented them from leaving, out of sight.
Between partly opened curtains, a young girl sometimes moved shyly into view, illuminated by a flickering TV. Several of the detainees are children.