By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) faces a lawsuit following the July incident of a 15-year-old U.S. citizen traveling alone toward the Mexican border. The state agency maintains that its decision to pursue reunification with the youth’s mother took legal precedence, while Attorney General Raúl Torrez contends the department failed to follow proper legal process. The incident has drawn responses from both gubernatorial candidates regarding the agency’s operational priorities.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Tuesday that he has filed suit against the Children, Youth and Families Department in First Judicial District Court, alleging the agency abandoned the boy at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso and pushed him into Mexico without adequate legal process. The complaint follows a referral from the Office of the Child Advocate, which found probable constitutional violations and “a pattern of conduct by CYFD that warrants judicial intervention.” Torrez is asking a judge to order the boy’s safe return to New Mexico and block CYFD from removing kids from the country without court approval.
CYFD spokesperson Jake Thompson defended the agency’s handling of the case, telling the Santa Fe New Mexican that state law gave the department “no legal grounds to retain custody and keep him in foster care.” Thompson said uniting the boy with his mother, his legal guardian, served his best interest, and that the mother had requested the reunification herself.
Republican nominee Gregg Hull said the case shows CYFD chasing reunification numbers instead of protecting the child in front of it. He’s calling for an independent investigation, preserved records and accountability for whoever signed off on sending the teen across the border alone. Hull points to the Department of Justice’s own findings months earlier — that CYFD has a pattern of prioritizing reunification over safety — as reason to doubt the agency’s defense.
Democratic nominee Deb Haaland used the case to restate a CYFD overhaul plan she’s pitched throughout the campaign: new leadership “on day one,” a longer-term shift to an independent oversight commission, a better-funded child advocate, expanded juvenile court capacity, and stronger data systems to track kids in the system. Haaland cites her tenure rebuilding the Department of Interior — 70,000 employees, an $18 billion budget — as her case for managing a similar turnaround at CYFD.
Both candidates agree CYFD needs new leadership and closer oversight of the Office of the Child Advocate, but split on emphasis — Hull wants an independent probe of this case specifically, while Haaland is running on structural change to the department overall. The general election is Nov. 3.