Abstract

CASILLAS R., Rodolfo. Convergences and divergences in the legal frameworks of the North-Central American countries, Mexico and the United States regarding the trafficking of migrants. Migr. desarro [online]. 2018, vol.16, n.30, pp.95-121. ISSN 1870-7599.

The growth of the illicit trafficking of migrants in the Central America-Mexico-United States region requires national and regional alignments of policy that are realistic and have legal authority, hence the importance of undertaking a comparative analysis of the legal frameworks on the countries involved, in particular with regard to where they converge and diverge, which affect how they may impede or block regional action. This does not mean that all of the countries involved have similar legal frameworks, only that one can find predispositions that may facilitate regional intervention -without discounting their national experiences- and that may be effective in their internal and international capacities regarding migrant populations that they are committed to assist and protect, as per the ratification of the United Nations' Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. Mexico, the United States and the three countries that make up North-Central America have some similarities in their national legal frameworks that make up a basic, minimum platform, indispensable for joint action across various dimensions and scopes, that may be applied against trafficking networks and which could provide protection for the migrant populations.

Keywords : Central America; trafficking of migrants; organized crime; legislation; regulation.

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