Inmate Transfers Under Prison Transfer Treaties

Under U.S. law (18 U.S.C. §§ 4100-4115) foreign nationals convicted of a crime in the U. S., and U. S. citizens or nationals convicted of a crime in a foreign country, may apply for a prisoner treaty transfer to their home country if a treaty providing for such transfer is in force between the U. S. and the foreign country involved.

The U. S. has 12 bilateral prisoner transfer treaties in force in the following countries: Bolivia, Canada, France, Hong Kong S.A.R., Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Peru, Thailand and Turkey. In addition, the U. S. is a party to two multilateral prisoner transfer treaties, the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (sometimes called the "COE Convention" or "Strasbourg Convention" after the city in which it was signed) and the Organization of American States Treaty (called the "OAS Treaty").

The U. S. has enacted legislation implementing all prisoner transfer treaties. See 18 USC §§ 4100 et seq. See also 28 CFR 2.62. Most prisoner treaty transfers between the U. S. and a foreign country involve Mexican and Canadian offenders who are incarcerated under federal and state statutes. Mexican and Canadian prisoners make up, by far, the largest segment of foreign inmates incarcerated in the U. S.

The decision to transfer or receive a prisoner under the prisoner treaty transfer system is a completely discretionary decision to be made by each country. The consent of the U.S. Government, the foreign government and the prisoner is required for each prisoner transfer. If the prisoner was convicted of a crime by a state in the U. S., and is serving a sentence in a state facility, consent of the state is also required.