El Salvador Is Slapping $1,000 Tax On Travellers From India

El Salvador is charging passengers from Africa or India a $1,000 fee, in an apparent bid to curb migration to the US through the Central American country.

People traveling on passports from India or any one of more than 50 African nations will be obliged to pay the fee, El Salvador’s port authority said in a statement on its website dated Oct. 20.

The money raised will be used to improve the nation’s main international airport, the authority added.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele this week met Brian Nichols, US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, to discuss “efforts to address irregular migration,” among other topics. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol encountered a record 3.2 million migrants across the country in fiscal year 2023, which ended in September.