新墨西哥州检察长Raúl Torrez于7月28日对该州儿童、青年和家庭部（CYFD）提起民事诉讼，指控其工作人员在7月6日将一名15岁美国公民送往得克萨斯州埃尔帕索边境，强制其独自越过国际边界寻找被驱逐出境的墨西哥籍母亲[1]。该少年当时患有需要每日用药的心脏病[1]。他未能立即找到母亲后跑回美国，随后被德克萨斯州当局收留，数周后被转送至墨西哥与母亲团聚[1]。
检察长在诉讼中要求法院发布临时禁止令，禁止该机构在未经法院批准的情况下协调跨境儿童团聚[1]。Torrez发表声明称："新墨西哥州不能声称保护儿童却在国际边境遗弃自己的孩子"[1]。此前在2024年4月，新墨西哥州司法部曾发布一份200页的报告，详述了该福利机构的系统性失职问题[1]。对此，CYFD发言人Jake Thompson回应表示："最重要的是孩子安全，与母亲生活在一起"[1]。
New Mexico's attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against the state's Department of Children, Youth and Family Services on July 28, 2024, seeking the return of a 15-year-old U.S. citizen who was taken to the Texas-Mexico border and forced to cross into Mexico alone.[1] The incident occurred on July 6, 2024, when department staff transported the teenager to El Paso, Texas, and directed him to independently locate his deported Mexican national mother across the border.[1]
The teen, who has a heart condition requiring daily medication, was unable to immediately find his mother and returned to the United States, where he was taken into custody by Texas authorities.[1] Several weeks later, he was transferred to Mexico to reunite with his mother.[1] Attorney General Raúl Torrez stated: "New Mexico cannot claim to protect children while abandoning our own kids at an international border."[1] The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting any cross-border family reunification without prior judicial approval.[1]
This legal action follows a 200-page report issued by New Mexico's Department of Justice in April 2024 detailing systemic failures within the foster care agency.[1] A spokesperson for the Children, Youth and Family Services department responded by emphasizing that "the most important thing is the child's safety and living with their mother."[1]