EXCLUSIVE — The Congressional El Salvador Caucus is calling on the Biden administration to reduce the country’s travel advisory level, which remains high.

Over the past decade, El Salvador has gone from the murder capital of the world to one of the safest countries in the Western Hemisphere, largely due to President Nayib Bukele’s gang crackdown. Despite its murder rate now being lower than most American cities, the country’s travel advisory designation remains a Level 3, “Reconsider Travel,” the second-highest rating possible.

In a joint letter signed by 13 members of Congress, led by El Salvador Caucus Co-Chairmen Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), the bipartisan caucus asked the Biden administration to change the country’s travel advisory to a “Level 1,” the lowest level.

“El Salvador is now, and has been since 2023, the safest country in the Western Hemisphere; the State Department’s travel advisory, regrettably, does not reflect this reality,” the letter provided to the Washington Examiner read. “Since 2015, El Salvador’s homicide rate has been steadily declining, from a high of 104 per 100,000 inhabitants to 2.4 in 2024. This homicide rate is less than nearly every major city in the United States.”

It pointed out that several other countries in the Western Hemisphere with similar or greater homicide rates than El Salvador, including Argentina, Suriname, French Guiana, and Paraguay, are at “Level 1” designations.

El Salvador had a “Level 4” travel advisory for an extended period across the 2000s and 2010s due to the gang violence engulfing the country. A Salvadoran official familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner that it was first lowered to a “Level 2” in September 2019 after a personal request by Bukele during a meeting in the United States with then-President Donald Trump. The official said the request to lower the travel designation was the only request made by Bukele during the meeting.

Most of the world received a “Level 4” advisory with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these were removed in the following years, but El Salvador only had its travel advisory lowered to a “Level 3,” at which it has remained. The last update was July 17, 2023.

The main stated reason on the travel advisory page is the persistence of violent crime in some areas despite the rate being lower than in the U.S. The other reason given is fear over the “State of Exception,” the order from the government allowing security forces greater leeway to make arrests. The advisory said, “Several U.S. and other foreign citizens have been detained under the State of Exception, some in a reportedly arbitrary manner.”

The U.S. State Department has remained mum on the details regarding U.S. citizens being detained in El Salvador, but nearly all appear to be dual citizens. One case uncovered by a local Salvadoran newspaper in April 2022 saw two dual citizens get arrested at a mass arrest at a party. Both were released soon after. Fox News reported one of the men was arrested due to tattoos on his wrist and hand. Tattoos in the country are typically associated with gangs such as MS-13.

The Salvadoran official disputed this, saying that those who were arrested were dual citizens and believed to be in gangs. The law had to apply equally to everyone in the country, he argued.

“There’s certainly no Americans being arbitrarily arrested in El Salvador,” he said.

The Washington Examiner spoke with Tourism Minister Morena Ileana Valdéz Vigil, who stressed the growing importance of the tourism industry for El Salvador’s economy.

Despite the “Level 3” travel advisory, El Salvador’s tourism industry has exploded. U.N. Tourism ranked the country as having the fourth fastest-growing tourism industry. Valdez said the tourism industry is set to amount to 14% of the country’s GDP by the end of 2024, compared to 5%-6% in 2019.

“It has been an issue in the past, but actually, the security has impacted the tourism level,” Valdez said. “Two million visitors we have received this year, 40% coming from the United States. … Also, we are receiving a growth in tourism from Canada, South America, and Europe.”

To showcase the change in safety, Valdez said the country has seen an influx of women traveling alone.

“And the first thing that you can read in our surveys is because of the security environment in the country. … We also have a lot of tourism of women, women alone,” she said. “That’s another important tourism sector … young women that want to come because they feel safe coming to El Salvador, they feel safe taking public transportation.”

Most importantly for the U.S., Valdez argued, was an indirect outcome — a decrease in emigration.

“We have been working a lot with a U.S. Embassy and USAID in the promotion of programs for juvenile employment,” she said. “Precisely what we are working on, it’s on the non-migration, on preventing migration towards the United States. Because we don’t want the American dream. We want the Salvadoran dream. We want you to stay in the country through the development of labor in the tourism sector.”

Figures provided by the Salvadoran Ministry of Tourism saw a plummet in tourism in 2020, due mostly to the COVID-19 pandemic, before shooting back up to record heights. In 2023, the country hosted a record 3.4 million tourists. That record may be broken again this year, as the country has already hosted 2 million tourists as of June.

El Salvador has flexed its newfound tourist industry by hosting several international events, something previously unthinkable, such as the Miss Universe pageant in 2023, held in the country for the first time since 1975.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Salvadoran official said he believes it will take some time for the travel advisory to be altered, as it is typically an interagency effort.

“It takes some time, the secretary just can’t sign it overnight,” he said, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who attended Bukele’s June inauguration.