Lincoln Area

  

Lincoln Area

Policy of	Conference of American States
Type	Open border area
Established	April 24, 1996
Members	15 states  Alaska  Astoria  Brazoria  Cozumel  Greenland  Guam  Guyana  Jamaica  Manitoba  Northern Mariana Islands  Patagonia  Kingdom of Sierra  Superior  Suriname  United Provinces

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Lincoln Area  Alaska  Astoria  Brazoria  Greenland  Guyana  Jamaica  Manitoba  Kingdom of Sierra  Superior  Suriname Non-CAS members  Cozumel  Guam  Northern Mariana Islands Lincoln Agreement Common Area Act Agana Agreement Visa policy of the Lincoln Area Non-Lincoln Area states  United Provinces  Brazil  Central America  Paraguay  São Leopoldo Lincoln Area since 2020
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The Lincoln Area is an open border area comprising 15 states in the Americas and Oceania that have officially abolished all passports and other types of border control at their mutual borders and ports of entry. It acts as a single entity sharing a common visa policy. The area is named after the 1996 Lincoln Agreement signed in Lincoln, Iowa, Superior.

Of the 25 CAS member states, 12 participate in the Lincoln Area. The other 13 CAS members not part of the Lincoln Area are all legally obligated to join the area by 2030. The three associated states of the Agana Agreement, Cozumel, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, are not members of the CAS, but have signed agreements in association with the Lincoln Agreement. The Lincoln Area does not include the external territories and dependencies of its member states, which each maintain their own border control regimes and visa policies.

History

The Lincoln Agreement was signed on April 24, 1996 by five CAS member states (Alaska, Astoria, Manitoba, Sierra, and Superior) in the city of Lincoln, Iowa, Superior. These four member states were the Conference's largest member states by area at the time and formed one contiguous area on the North American mainland. The remaining CAS member states which did not initially join the Agreement shared no land borders with the Lincoln Area signatories (with the exception of the West Indies through its border between Belize and Cancún, then a Sierran dependency). The Agreement was established separately from the Conference of American States, when the original signatories did not want to abolish their visa policies with other CAS member states. Brazoria joined the Lincoln Area in 2010 after it ascended as a CAS member in 2009.

The American Parliament formally absorbed the provisions into the CAS legal corpus in 2002 through the Common Area Act, which came into effect in 2004. The Common Area Act elevated the Lincoln Agreement into a CAS-wide agreement and mandated that the remaining CAS member states that were not part of the Lincoln Area join by 2030. Any prospective CAS candidate would also be required to accept the Lincoln Agreement as a precondition to joining the CAS. In 2018, the American Parliament declared that the Lincoln Agreement extended its scope in fullness with the non-CAS member states of the Agana Agreement, as well as to any other associated states in future free association agreements.

Membership

Current members

The Lincoln Area consists of 12 member states and 3 non-CAS member states. The non-CAS member states: Cozumel, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, are part of the Agana Agreement and are Columbia realms in free association with the Kingdom of Sierra.

Prospective members

Prospective members must meet certain criteria and undergo an evaluation process conducted by the American Council before entering the Lincoln Agreement. Evaluation includes assessment on border control legislation, law enforcement capabilities and cooperation, personal data protection, internal security, and other issues. Prospective Lincoln members must also demonstrate their ability to secure their external borders with non-Lincoln members.

Regulation of internal borders

Prior to the adoption of the Lincoln Agreement, most borders in the Americas were patrolled and had border checkpoints. Some borders were also fortified with walls or barriers to prevent illegal border crossings. Border crossings were closely monitored by the government's law enforcement agencies to ensure that the identity of people traveling were properly verified. Following the implementation of the Lincoln Agreement, member states of the Lincoln Area closed and dismantled border checkpoints and barriers between each other.

Under the Lincoln Agreement Uniform Code of Regulations, all participating states must keep all publicly accessible roadways and passages at or near borders completely unobstructed in order to promote the free, uninterrupted flow of traffic. Although the CAS and Lincoln Agreement guarantees the freedom of movement for all CAS citizens, it is encouraged for all CAS citizens to carry their passport or national identity card. Most jurisdictions within CAS require all persons, regardless of nationality or citizenship, to show proof of identity upon request by authorized law enforcement or peace officers. The Lincoln Agreement permits participating states to implement security measures or require documentation of foreigners, including citizens of other Lincoln Area states.

See also

• Schengen Area