In clandestine ways, including handcrafted signs, secreted phones, and clandestine gestures through glass, certain migrants conveyed an overwhelming, unending fear.

Most wished to remain faceless, dreading repercussions from potential exposure by journalists capturing their images. We conducted as much communication as feasible from window to window.

In the main hall, Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 27-year-old migrant from Iran, boldly inscribed “Help” on the window with lipstick. She was among the few without concealment.

Outside, my colleague, New York Times reporter Julie Turkewitz, displayed a notebook with her phone number, visible to the migrants from their quarters — for them to note and potentially reach out.

We discovered that the 10 Iranian migrants had embraced Christianity, a transformation that, under Iran’s Shariah law, constitutes a crime deserving of the ultimate penalty. They had entered the U.S. without authorization over the past month and were subsequently detained in San Diego before being relocated to Panama.

Many migrants had migrated from countries such as Afghanistan and China to the U.S. border, pursuing asylum. Now, they’re trapped in Panama, redirected there by the Trump administration due to these countries refusing to accept them or for other reasons.

Panamanian officials maintain that their handling of the migrants adheres to international protocols and supervise the migrants with two UN factions. Legal experts in the nation claim detaining individuals without a court order for more than 24 hours is against the law.

We made contact with three Chinese individuals in the room beneath Ms. Ghasemzadeh. One man utilized toothpaste to pen “China” and his contact info on the window.

He displayed a Bible and a cross at the window, presenting his family name as Wang. Yet, in conversation, he voiced trepidation of exposure, fearing it could be weaponized against him if deported. “I’d rather leap from a plane than return to China,” he declared.

Following the snapshot from last week, Panamanian authorities announced that over half of the migrants have chosen to return to their origin countries.

Included among them are two Indian migrants who arrived in the U.S. on January 29, after a two-year trek to seek refuge. They were restrained with handcuffs.

They confirmed in a hotel interview that they have signed papers for deportation back to India and will not dispute it. They received medical treatment, food, and lodging, as per their report.

Migrants declining deportation would be relocated to the outskirts of a jungle known as the Darién Gap, according to the nation’s security minister, describing it as a pact with the U.S. Nearly 100 have already been transferred from the hotel to the camp.

We have yet to witness the migrants in the camp, and even in Panama City’s center, only so much was observable. People closed curtains or kept out of sight. Beside Mr. Wang’s room, someone was pacing between the bed and a nightstand in the dark.

All we could see was movement, hinting at their agitation.

This story includes contributions from Alan Yuhas.