New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has filed a civil lawsuit against the state's Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD), alleging that agency staff drove a 15-year-old U.S. citizen to El Paso, Texas, and instructed him to cross the border into Mexico to reunite with his mother.
The complaint, filed on July 28, states the incident occurred on July 6. CYFD staff allegedly told the minor to cross an international bridge alone to find his mother, who is a Mexican national and had been arrested on drug-related charges and deported earlier this year. Torrez's office is also asking a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the state's foster care system from removing children from the U.S. in the future without prior court approval.
"The State of New Mexico cannot claim to protect children while abandoning one of its own at an international border," Torrez said in a news release.
According to the lawsuit, the teenager crossed into Mexico but was unable to locate his mother. He subsequently ran back across multiple lanes of traffic to re-enter the U.S. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly urged the New Mexico agency to retrieve the child, but CYFD staff allegedly refused, stating the child was now a "Texas problem" before leaving him at the border. The child was then placed with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Weeks later, Texas officials reportedly returned the child to his mother in Mexico, despite attempts to communicate with CYFD. The attorney general's office claims the boy remains in Mexico with his mother, despite repeated efforts to re-enter the U.S.
CYFD, however, denied that the child's safety was ever at risk, stating his mother had requested the reunification. A CYFD spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the complaint and the court order and will respond in court. The department also stated that the child's siblings have since relocated across the border to live with their mother and their godparents.
CYFD's website indicates that its Office of Advocacy includes immigration specialists who assist in reuniting children with family members in other countries. Cristen Conley, director at the Corinne Wolfe Center for Child and Family Justice at the University of New Mexico, noted that New Mexico law does not prohibit safely reuniting children with parents in other countries, provided it is done with court approval.
The lawsuit comes after a 200-page report released in April by the New Mexico Department of Justice that detailed alleged systemic failures within the welfare agency, including instances where children were returned to dangerous environments. The report suggested that department staff prioritized reunification over safety.
According to the complaint, the 15-year-old has a heart condition requiring daily medication, and CYFD staff allegedly did not make sufficient efforts to ensure his continued medical care after the reunification. The child's parents are Mexican nationals, but he had been living with his godmother and siblings in the U.S. and had not been in contact with his parents for years. The godmother had attempted to send him to live with family in Mexico earlier in the summer, but the child ran away and ended up at a hospital near the border. Upon his discharge, the hospital contacted CYFD because the godmother was not the official guardian, leading to his placement in foster care.
After the border incident, the teenager reportedly contacted the Office of the Child Advocate, an independent government watchdog, which referred the case to the New Mexico Department of Justice. The attorney general's office alleges that CYFD failed to conduct proper risk assessments of the child's mother and instructed a minor to cross an international border on foot without adult supervision.