The United States Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, with support from the Department’s Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), transferred 14 Mexican nationals on Friday to Mexican authorities pursuant to the International Prisoner Transfer Treaty between the United States and Mexico. Each individual was serving a federal sentence in the United States for drug-distribution offenses, illegal firearms offenses, or both.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director Shane Salem of BOP’s Correctional Programs Division made the announcement.
All 14 inmates requested transfer to their home country. Following approval by both governments, the inmates were transferred on Dec. 5 and will serve the remainder of their sentences in Mexico under the terms of the treaty.
These transfers were conducted through the congressionally authorized International Prisoner Transfer Program. The Criminal Division’s International Prisoner Transfer Unit (IPTU), housed in the Office of International Affairs, administers the program and coordinates all treaty-based transfers. Through this program, eligible foreign nationals in federal and state custody may, under certain conditions, be transferred to their country of nationality to complete their sentences. The United States currently maintains 10 additional bilateral transfer agreements and two multilateral transfer conventions, providing treaty relationships with more than 85 countries.
The same treaties also permit American nationals incarcerated abroad to apply for transfer to the United States. On Dec. 9, three U.S. citizens convicted for controlled-substance trafficking were transferred to the United States. The remaining terms on their sentences range from 22 months to four and a half years.
To learn more about the International Prisoner Transfer Program, visit: https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-oia/iptu .