Extradition: Relation Between Mexico And The United States

The definition of extradition is the transfer of an accused from one state or country that seeks to place the accused on trail. International extradition treaties often provide exceptions under which a nation can refuse to surrender a fugitive sought by another nation. It is the official process by which one nation or state requests and obtains from another nation or states the surrender of a suspected or convicted criminal. As between nations, treaties regulate extradition. There are many cases where the host country due to issues, will not return the escaped fugitive between the countries affected. For example a majority of the extradition treaties have some kind of connection with the United States. There are two types of extradition treaties:
Most countries also have extradition treaties such as Mexico and the United States, as shown above. If two countries have an extradition treaty, they have an agreement to extradite each others wanted fugitives based upon the terms of the treaty; “considered simply as a contract between two independent Governments” (Spears 95). Even when a treaty is not present, extradition will usually be granted if it meets certain conditions regarding how the extradition request is made and who makes the request. The primary consideration is dual criminality, “has become an unwanted barrier to extradition to both requesting and requested States” (Hafen, Article). This means that the crime for which the person is accused must have also committed a criminal offense in the country being asked to hand over the fugitive. For example, a country that has no taxes generally will not grant extradition on the grounds of income tax fraud because there is no such crime in their country. Also, many countries, such as Canada, and a majority of the European Union will not grant extradition if the person potentially faced the death penalty for their crimes. No country would grant extradition for civil charges. They must be criminal charges only, because if it is a civil charge it should be handled within that state. If you fled to Colombia you would be extradited to the United States for drug charges (Yolanda 1). Unfortunately many of these cases are reoccurring
On May 13th, 1999 there was a meeting amongst the House of Representatives with the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources. There Representative Gilman gathered the subcommittee to talk about the war on drug and that the extradition is very important to fight the issue, “This issue is extradition, it is at the very heart of winning that war on drugs, and it is the key to international law enforcement and respect for law and order” (1) With that being said the importance of cooperation between one or more countries is very important because it ensure a smooth transition process of fugitives. However Gilmore did mention that the international extradition with Mexico has been “seldom publicly examined” (1). Drugs have caused thousands of deaths and have generated billions of dollars every year going into the hands of dug cartels in Mexico. Here Gilman puts a lot of emphasis on