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| Jan Sochor/Getty |
El Salvador imposed a $1,000 airport tariff fee on travelers from India and Africa this week in an effort to curb the use of the Central American nation as a bridge destination for nationals from those areas seeking to illegally migrate to the United States.
The number of cases of U.S.-bound migrants landing in El Salvador’s airports to eventually arrive in Nicaragua and travel to America has increased significantly in the past year, Manuel Orozco, the director of the Migration, Remittances, and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, said. The communist Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua is not only profiting from the United States’ migrant crisis, but reportedly trying to use migrants as a “weapon” against the United States and leverage for potential sanctions relief.
Proceeds from the new fee, which went into effect on Monday, will be used to improve and modernize the nation’s main international airport, according to the The Autonomous Port Executive Committee (CEPA), the nation’s port, airport, and railroad authority.
CEPA informed on its website that it has registered an increase in the number of inbound, outbound, and connecting Indian and African passengers at the airport compared to previous years.
“El Salvador, due to its strategic position, is a HUB for one of the most important airlines in the region, with direct connections to more than 30 destinations in 14 countries,” CEPA’s statement reads.
The new measure will force Indian nationals and citizens from over 50 African nations to pay a mandatory $1,000 in “Airport Improvement Fees” — plus an additional 13 percent in taxes — to travel to El Salvador. CEPA has also instructed airlines to issue daily detailed reports on passengers from the countries affected by the measure.
In recent years, illegal migrants have opted to use El Salvador and Nicaragua for their route towards the United States, as it allows them to avoid the deadly Darien Gap jungle trail located between Colombia and Panama that many illegal migrants nonetheless continue to use. --->READ MORE HERE
In what's seen as an attempt to throttle the stream of migrants who proceed to the US border, the government of El Salvador has started hitting passengers arriving from Africa and India with a steep $1,000 tax.
If that is indeed the motive, El Salvador's government is hiding it. Rather than referencing migration to the United States, the official announcement of the new policy implied it was necessary for ongoing "modernization and expansion projects at the El Salvador International Airport," and cited "an increase in the number of passengers entering, leaving and connecting at the airport, compared to previous years."
The $1,000 tax has been named the "Airport Improvement Fee." After factoring in El Salvador's 13% value added tax, the total cost rises to $1,130. Collection began on Oct. 23.
Under the Biden administration, the United States just set a new record for illegal immigration -- 3.2 million in the 2023 fiscal year that ended Sep. 30. This week, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele received a visit from the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian Nichols. The announced discussion agenda included "migration cooperation and security" (along with the supremely woke-sounding topic of "inclusive economic prosperity"). --->READ MORE HERE
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