PANAMA CITY (AP) — Child migration through Panama’s dangerous Darien Gap is up 40% so far this year, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.N. children’s agency.

President-elect José Raúl Mulino of Panama says he will shut down a migration route used by more than 500,000 people last year.

Panama is on the verge of a dramatic change to its immigration policy that could reverberate from the dense Darien jungle to the U.S. border.