近距离内射合集

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 office responded this week to the state Department of Justice鈥檚 lawsuit against the beleaguered Children, Youth and Families Department over the expatriation of a 15-year-old child to Mexico.

Lujan Grisham鈥檚 spokesperson, Michael Coleman, said the lawsuit 鈥渋s not surprising even though the Attorney General鈥檚 Office was aware of the child鈥檚 planned reunification before it occurred and did not intervene at the time.鈥�

Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez is asking a court to order CYFD to facilitate the return of the child 鈥� unidentified because he is a minor 鈥� who was reunified with his mother in Mexico. The child is a U.S. citizen who reportedly lived with godparents for nine years.

At a custody hearing on July 6, the lawsuit states that CYFD dismissed a pending abuse and neglect complaint and told a judge it would unify the child with his mother rather than the godparents. The mother was deported to Mexico in June following a drug-related criminal charge in Texas.

The abuse complaint was filed, CYFD and the Governor鈥檚 Office said, after the child was briefly hospitalized and had no legal parent or guardian to pick him up when he was discharged. The child鈥檚 father reportedly has lived in Mexico since about 2016 and is not in contact with the family. 

鈥淛udges 鈥� not governors 鈥� decide when a parent鈥檚 custody of their child should be limited or removed,鈥� Coleman continued in a statement issued Tuesday night. 鈥淭his administration doesn't make that call, and it shouldn't. The one exception is egregious harm or a parent who plainly cannot keep a child safe; CYFD's job in that circumstance is to do everything possible to prevent harm and bring that evidence to a judge.鈥�

The circumstances involving this child were less clear, Coleman argued: 鈥淣ew Mexico and Texas authorities, and a New Mexico judge, independently concluded that the child should be with his mother.鈥�

The Department of Justice countered Wednesday that the Governor鈥檚 Office 鈥渉as this exactly backwards.鈥�

DOJ Chief of Staff Lauren Rodriguez said, 鈥淩eunification was not ordered by a judge 鈥� it was the direct result of CYFD's decision to dismiss its own abuse and neglect case. The court did not direct CYFD to return this child to Mexico; CYFD represented to the court that there were no concerns with the mother and voluntarily dismissed its own petition.鈥�

Rodriguez called the investigation into the abuse claim 鈥渟uperficial鈥� and said CYFD 鈥渘ever meaningfully interviewed the child about reunification or his relationship with his mother, despite the fact that he had lived apart from her for nearly nine years, had been the subject of a substantiated abuse finding involving his mother, and had recently begun receiving critical health treatment.鈥�

The child reportedly suffers from a heart ailment requiring daily prescription medication as well as emotional and behavioral health needs.

On July 6, hours after the custody hearing, CYFD staff drove the child to El Paso with his belongings packed. There, at about 8:30 p.m., they instructed him to cross the Paso del Norte bridge alone into Mexico to meet his mother, according to the lawsuit. The child fled into El Paso instead, spending 10 days in a homeless shelter before Texas authorities and Mexican consulate staff escorted the child safely into Ciudad Ju谩rez on July 17.

Coleman criticized the DOJ for seeking the child鈥檚 return without a plan specifying 鈥渨here the child will live or who will take care of him.鈥� Coleman said, 鈥淐ontinued back-and-forth over jurisdiction for a child who has already been through a great deal will inflict unnecessary trauma. In the meantime, CYFD will continue working with Mexican authorities to check on the well-being of this child and his family.鈥�

After the child鈥檚 expatriation became public last week, CYFD said it evaluated the mother and her home environment via virtual home visits.

Rodriguez said that, in fact, Texas鈥� Department of Family and Protective Services, the Mexican consulate and even U.S. Customs and Border Protection all communicated concerns to the DOJ about how CYFD treated the child. The case was referred to the DOJ by the recently created state Office of the Child Advocate.

鈥淚nstead of accepting responsibility for decisions that CYFD alone controlled, including dismissing its own case and abandoning a vulnerable 15-year-old American citizen at the international border, the agency continues to deflect blame,鈥� Rodriguez said.

Candidates for governor weigh in

The controversy has drawn reactions from both candidates vying to succeed Lujan Grisham in the November election.

In an interview with the Journal, Republican candidate Gregg Hull called for Lujan Grisham to address the events in a news conference and called for greater transparency from all parties.

鈥淐learly, there have been decisions made that we need to understand,鈥� the former Rio Rancho mayor said. 鈥淲ho made those decisions? If the Governor鈥檚 Office and the Attorney General鈥檚 Office were informed about this, why did they ultimately let this go forward?鈥�

鈥淚f my administration allowed this to happen, and I didn鈥檛 know about it, I鈥檇 step out and own it,鈥� Hull continued. 鈥淭he buck stops with the Governor鈥檚 Office. 鈥� I can think of one policy that needs to be implemented immediately: Never turn over a 15-year-old at the international border unescorted.鈥�

Democrat Deb Haaland reiterated her vow to overhaul CYFD if she is elected.

鈥淭he decision to send a child across the border alone is unacceptable. My heart breaks every time a child is harmed because of poor policy,鈥� Haaland said in a news release. 鈥淜ids need to be kept safe and right now CYFD fails to meet that responsibility.鈥�

Haaland vowed to move CYFD鈥檚 leadership structure from a Cabinet secretary to an independent commission, empower and fully fund the Office of the Child Advocate, expand juvenile courts鈥� capacity to handle case loads and reduce wait times; and improve data collection and foster parent recruitment 鈥渢o ensure no child falls through the cracks.鈥�

Journal Managing Editor James Bennett contributed to this report with an interview of gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull. 

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.