NEWS
CYFD details 鈥榲irtual home鈥� visits before teen was left at border to reunite with mother
Agency said first visit was done hours before drop-off, which went awry and left the boy in a Texas shelter for days
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The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department said the agency conducted two virtual home visits with a mother in Mexico before leaving her teenage son at the border earlier this month to reunite them.
Defending the agency鈥檚 actions amid rising criticism over the incident, CYFD spokesperson Jake Thompson said the first video call took place hours before the agency dropped the 15-year-old off on July 6 at the Paso del Norte crossing in El Paso, Texas.
While Facetiming a CYFD staffer, he said, the mother 鈥渨alked around her home鈥� showing the child鈥檚 bed and that there was adequate food and water.
鈥淐YFD determined that the home was safe and appropriate for placement,鈥� Thompson said.
The teen reportedly didn鈥檛 agree and refused to cross into Mexico, spending days in a homeless shelter with the assistance of Texas Child Protective Services. When CPS contacted CYFD, the agency reportedly refused to collect the child, saying his case had been closed and he was no longer in its jurisdiction.
Thompson said Friday the second virtual visit occurred 10 days after the first. He said the July 16 video call had 鈥渢he same routine and same determination that the home was safe and appropriate for placement.鈥�
A day later, the teen, who was born in New Mexico and had been recently placed in temporary foster care, was escorted to Ciudad Ju谩rez and united with his mother 鈥� a Mexican national who had been deported earlier this year after being charged with a crime.
The Journal is not identifying the boy because he is a minor.
When asked if CYFD did a standard home visit, Thompson said, 鈥淐YFD does not have authority to conduct in-person home visits in Mexico.鈥�
State Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces, said she wished CYFD had collaborated with Mexico鈥檚 agency equivalent, the National System for Integral Family Development, also known as DIF, on the front end to have DIF staff 鈥渁ctually go out to the home.鈥�
Furthermore, Gallegos said the mother 鈥渉ad not had rapport or a relationship鈥� with the teen for nine years. She called CYFD鈥檚 actions in the case 鈥渓azy鈥� and 鈥渟loppy,鈥� believing the agency didn鈥檛 follow past protocol, such as collaborating with DIF 鈥渢o do proper social work.鈥�
鈥淭here were enough red flags that they should not, in my opinion, have just sent that kid to walk across the border when he was basically kicking and screaming, not wanting to go, and I think that they wanted to wash their hands of the whole situation,鈥� said Gallegos, the director of Mesilla Valley CASA, an organization that advocates for abused and neglected children in court settings.
Gallegos said maybe the boy鈥檚 mother is a great parent but she didn鈥檛 understand what the hurry was for CYFD to remove the child from foster care and take him to the border. She called the case another 鈥渂lack eye鈥� for the agency, which has faced mounting criticism over a spate of child deaths in its custody.
鈥淚 don't know if the agency is overwhelmed 鈥� I know that there's a lot of good people working those jobs 鈥� but there's got to be proper supervision of those workers,鈥� Gallegos said. 鈥淛ust because it falls within the law of being OK to send this kid that way, it's ethically and morally wrong.鈥�
She said she was already planning a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would give 鈥渕ore teeth鈥� to New Mexico鈥檚 Office of the Child Advocate, an independent watchdog created by the state Legislature in 2025, to make recommendations on child welfare the state can adopt to keep similar situations from playing out.
In a July 16 email to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Gallegos asked for 鈥渁n immediate review of this case to ensure the safety, legal rights, and medical well-being of this child.鈥�
Gallegos told the Journal the second trip across the border was not much easier on the teen, but he went this time. The CPS worker who had to transport the teen told Gallegos 鈥渉e cried all the way over there.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 just heartbreaking because we talked to him the day before,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a 15-year-old kid that's a good kid, and I think we, the state of New Mexico 鈥� it was horrific what they did.鈥�
Matthew Reisen is a senior reporter for the Journal. You can reach him at mreisen@abqjournal.com.
