ICE apprehends fugitive mother and son, plans reunion

Sunday, 28 December 2008 18:43

ICE agents say they have arrested a woman who fled to Mexico with her son a decade ago and that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) "will assist with the reunion" of the boy and his father.

In a news release dated December 24th, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says that Tamara Kennedy fled from Maryland with her four-year old son a decade ago, "shortly before sole custody of the child was to be awarded to the child's father." Kennedy and her son were seized by Mexican authorities after seeking passport assistance at the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara. They were then flown to Houston, where the Associated Press reports the boy, now 14, is in CPS custody and "is refusing to see his father." Kennedy faces criminal charges of obstructing parental rights.

NCMEC provides "reunification assistance" through its Family Advocacy Division . Media reports provide little information on NCMEC's role in the case, but the organization has long had a close relationship with the Texas-based Rachel Foundation for Family Reintegration , a group that provides "reintegration programs" for children and parents who it says are victims of "parental alienation syndrome," often after allegations of sexual abuse by the child or other parent. The Rachel Foundation says it was established in 2000 with the support of NCMEC and the U.S. Department of Justice.

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