New Mexico AG Sues Child Welfare Agency After Teen Allegedly Sent Alone to Mexico

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is asking a state court to order the return of a 15-year-old U.S. citizen from Mexico after child welfare workers allegedly drove him to a Texas border crossing and directed him to enter the country alone.

Filed July 28 in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, the lawsuit accuses the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department of violating state child welfare law and the teenager’s constitutional rights. Torrez is also seeking a temporary restraining order that would bar the agency, known as CYFD, from taking other children in state custody outside the United States without prior court approval.

According to the complaint, CYFD took custody of the teenager in June after a hospital refused to release him to his godmother because she was not his legal guardian. He had lived with his godparents and siblings in New Mexico for about nine years and had little contact with either parent, the filing states.

CYFD initially planned to take the teenager to the Mexican border on July 1, one day before a scheduled custody hearing, according to the lawsuit. The move did not occur that day after his foster parents contacted legal advocates.

Before transporting him to El Paso on July 6, the agency requested voluntary dismissal of the abuse and neglect proceeding. Torrez alleges that CYFD did not give the court a complete account of the planned placement or the risks involved.

Workers told the teenager he had five minutes to gather his belongings before driving him to the Bridge of the Americas, the complaint claims. The filing states that CYFD arrived around 8:30 p.m., several hours after his mother had been told to expect him, and had not communicated with her for about four hours.

Calls to his mother were going to voicemail when the agency allegedly instructed him to walk into Mexico alone. Torrez also claims CYFD had not coordinated his arrival with Mexican authorities and sent him with only a few doses of medication for a heart condition that requires daily treatment.

After walking a short distance onto the bridge, the teenager turned and ran through several lanes of traffic to reenter the United States, according to the filing. CYFD then asked federal authorities to deny him entry, but officials said a U.S. citizen could not be forced to enter or remain in Mexico, the complaint alleges.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials asked CYFD workers to take him back to New Mexico. The employees allegedly refused, said he was now a Texas matter, and left him at the border.

Texas child welfare officials placed the teenager in a shelter. Torrez claims CYFD declined requests to resume custody, although an agency employee later delivered his medication without discussing his custody or well-being with Texas officials.

On July 17, Texas authorities took the teenager to his mother in Mexico. Within hours, he ran away and tried to return to the United States, but Mexican law enforcement intercepted him and returned him to his mother, the complaint alleges.

CYFD disputes the attorney general’s account and says the teenager’s safety was never at risk. The agency maintains that his mother requested the reunification and that two virtual home visits found her residence safe and appropriate.

Agency officials also said the teenager’s godparents had asked a court to end their informal guardianship, leaving him without a legal guardian in the United States. His siblings have since moved to Mexico and are living with their mother, according to CYFD.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office has defended the placement, saying New Mexico and Texas authorities and a New Mexico judge independently concluded that the teenager should be with his mother. Torrez argues that the court did not receive a complete account of the proposed transfer or the concerns surrounding it.

Child welfare agencies have broad authority to decide where children in state custody live. Laws governing those decisions give children, caregivers, lawyers and courts a chance to review major placement changes before they occur.

Under the New Mexico Children’s Code, CYFD generally must provide 10 days of written notice before changing a child’s placement. Notice must go to the child’s lawyer, caregivers, the court, and others involved in the case.

When the child’s attorney requests a hearing to contest the move, the agency normally cannot change the placement until a judge rules unless an emergency requires immediate action. Those protections apply to placement decisions generally, including moves to another foster home, a relative’s home or a parent’s care.

Advance notice allows concerns about health, schooling, living conditions and the proposed caregiver to be considered before a child is moved. Torrez alleges that CYFD bypassed those protections before sending the teenager to Mexico.

CYFD counters that the earlier child welfare proceeding had ended and that it no longer had a legal basis to keep him in foster care.

Custody and placement decisions also generally turn on the best interests of the child. Parents have a protected right to raise their children, but courts and agencies may examine whether a proposed placement is safe and meets the child’s needs.

Factors can include the child’s health, emotional needs, relationship with the parent, living conditions and access to school and medical care. An older child’s wishes may also receive greater weight.

Torrez claims CYFD did not adequately assess the mother, consider the teenager’s objections or ensure that his health, education and therapy needs would be met. CYFD says its review supported placing him with his mother.

A separate claim accuses the agency of violating the teenager’s due process rights under the New Mexico Constitution. Due process generally requires government agencies to follow fair procedures before making decisions that affect protected rights.

According to the attorney general, children in state custody have a right to the safeguards provided under the Children’s Code. His office claims CYFD denied those protections by ending the earlier proceeding without fully disclosing its placement plan, arranging the transfer without proper notice and refusing to resume responsibility after the first crossing failed.

A referral from New Mexico’s Office of the Child Advocate led to the lawsuit. The independent watchdog reviews complaints involving the state foster care system, and Torrez is asking the court to require CYFD to cooperate with its requests for information and oversight.

Several months before the filing, the attorney general’s office issued a report alleging broader failures within CYFD. The agency has disputed those findings.

The teenager was reported to be living with his mother in Mexico. CYFD said it remained in contact with her and would respond to the allegations in court. No public ruling on the attorney general’s request for emergency relief had been identified as of Aug. 5.