Like a good neighbor? Mexico and its refusal to extradite.

ON April 29, 2002, during a routine traffic stop, Los Angeles County deputy sheriff David March was shot in the chest, then in the head at point-blank range by an illegal alien named Armando Garcia. Within 24 hours March's killer was in his native Mexico, where he remains at liberty, beyond the reach of American justice. Garcia had been deported to his home country three times, and at the time of March's murder was wanted for two unrelated attempted homicides in California. As March's widow, Teri, says, "Armando Garcia should have been serving jail time the day my husband was killed." It is likely that Garcia will never be put behind bars, because Mexican government policy prevents the extradition of the most violent fugitives to face trial and punishment in the United States.

California prosecutors estimate that as many as 360 individuals who have committed murder or other serious crimes in the state have not been extradited. An estimated 60 fugitives charged with or wanted for murder in Los Angeles County are believed to be at large in Mexico. But California is not unique in this regard. Fugitives from Georgia justice who have fled to Mexico prompted Rep. Nathan Deal (R., Ga.) to declare that "Mexico's refusal to be a good neighbor in the prosecution of dangerous felons should be the first reason for the United States to resist expanded immigration rules and an open-border policy. Any country that refuses to extradite a criminal who executes a police officer in the performance of his duties on American soil does not deserve to be given favorable trading status or any other position of preference in its dealings with the United States."

Since 1980, a treaty between the United States and Mexico has permitted either country to refuse to extradite citizens in the absence of assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed. Until two years ago, American prosecutors frequently agreed not to seek the death penalty in order to have fugitives returned to their jurisdictions. In October 2001, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that life imprisonment violates the country's constitution, and Mexico now interprets its treaty obligations in light of that decision. It is no longer sufficient for a prosecutor to waive the death penalty; now assurances of a determinate sentence must be given. The United States, on the other hand, imposes no restrictions on the extradition and prosecution of suspects who have committed serious crimes in Mexico and flee north across the border.

Currently, prosecutors must try to win extradition by charging a fugitive with a lesser offense that doesn't match the seriousness of the crime. If extradition is denied officially, Mexico will prosecute a fugitive under its own laws, which frequently results in modest penalties. The Los Angeles district attorney's office cites murder cases in Mexico with sentences as short as three years. Once a defendant is tried and sentenced in Mexico, American law doesn't permit a retrial for the same offense. The Los Angeles County district attorney hasn't filed a formal extradition request for Armando Garcia in order to avoid a denial and ensuing Mexican trial. The case remains a Mexican standoff.

In a protest letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, signed by 58 state prosecutors, the California District Attorneys Association explained that over 40 different crimes in California are punishable by "life" sentences, and neither a judge nor a prosecutor is empowered to give assurances about the possibility of parole. "The policy of the Mexican government sends a powerful message that a person can commit a heinous crime in California and escape justice for the price of a bus ticket across the border," the district attorneys concluded.

But not all murderers enjoy Mexican sanctuary equally. Last November 15, another California police officer, Matthew Pavelka, was killed during a traffic stop in Burbank, and his killer also made it across the Mexican border within 24 hours. Two weeks later, the fugitive David Garcia was expelled from Mexico. He is an American citizen. But Mexico still refuses to deport another American citizen, Alvaro Luna Jara, who has been charged with the murder of a twelve-year-old in a drive-by shooting and the attempted murder of three others. Because Jara's parents are Mexican nationals, Mexico refused to deport him on the grounds of "nationality." In testimony before a Committee on Government Reform subcommittee last fall, James P. Fox, the district attorney of San Mateo County, reported that Alvaro Jara fled to a remote area of Mexico, where he continues the family's drug trade. His brother Oscar, who committed a similar murder, has joined Alvaro in Mexico.

California's Sen. Dianne Feinstein cited the Jara case in a plea to Mexican president Vicente Fox last year as she sought his assistance in bringing fugitives to justice. She pointed out that individuals who flee to Mexico have a perverse incentive to kill during the commission of a crime because they would face extradition for a less serious offense. After pointing out that California law doesn't allow prosecutors or judges to set determinate sentences for "life" offenses, she argued that it is unclear whether any such assurance would even satisfy Mexican courts. She cited a Mexican court's determination that a 20-year sentence in a major federal narcotics-trafficking case was "cruel and unusual," and thus unconstitutional. Feinstein has introduced a Senate resolution calling on President Bush to either renegotiate the extradition treaty with Mexico, or take other action to ensure that violent criminals who flee to Mexico face American justice. A similar resolution passed the House last year.

Another California Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, a former U.S. attorney whose district includes Deputy March's station, explains that despite overwhelming opposition in Congress to Mexico's policy, there is no legislative solution for the current situation. He believes that the issue won't be a priority with the Mexican government until it's raised at the proverbial "highest levels," and he hasn't seen any sign that it has been "the subject of forceful public diplomacy."

Last spring, Teri March personally raised the sanctuary her husband's killer enjoys at the highest possible level. At a ceremony in Washington honoring slain police officers, Teri talked briefly with President Bush about Armando Garcia's sanctuary in Mexico. "We need to get him back," the president told her. Even though Teri March hasn't heard a word about the administration's efforts to bring her husband's killer to justice since then, she maintains, "I have a hopeful heart. I think [the president is] a good man." In the meantime, she ruefully notes that she has been nominated by her town for "newsmaker of the year," in recognition of her efforts to reform Mexico's extradition policy. She never thought her fight for simple justice would take this long.