U.S.-Mexican Extradition Policy: Were the Predictions Right about Alvarez?

This Comment analyzes the effect of such predictions on current U.S.-Mexican extradition policy. Part I examines the events leading up to the Court\u27s controversial ruling in Alvarez in the context of established principles and legal precedent on extradition and foreign abductions. Part II describes how controversial the Court\u27s decision was on a domestic and global scale. Specifically, Part II explores opposition from the international community, including responses from the Mexican government and other Latin American countries. Part II also examines domestic reactions to the decision among commentators and scholars, executive leaders, federal courts, and members of the U.S. Congress ( Congress ). Part II suggests that the recent trend in U.S.-Mexican extradition policy indicates more cooperation, not less. It suggests that the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement21 ( NAFTA ) and the Treaty to Prohibit Transborder Abductions ( Transborder Abduction Treaty ) 22 evidence a determination to forge better relations between both governments. Part II examines the Clinton Administration\u27s decision to re-certify Mexico for state aid in the joint fight against drug trafficking, and how this act prompted Congress to re-examine U.S.-Mexican extradition policy since Alvarez. It also describes how recent efforts by the Mexican government to alter its reluctant policy on extradition led to the surrender of several suspects upon request of the U.S. government. Part III argues that improvement in U.S. Mexican relations influenced renewed efforts to establish a more cooperative extradition policy between the two countries. Unfortunately, drug trafficking and corruption continue to plague the Mexican justice system and to impede an effective system of extradition. This Comment concludes that until the U.S. government adopts a more aggressive policy on extradition with Mexico addressing these problems, it will continue to favor international abductions in lieu of extradition