▲ Legislators warned of the psychological damage that it entails for minors to witness the detention of a family member or known person in operations where there is no emotional containment or physical protection.Photo Alfredo Dominguez
From the Editorial
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, January 19, 2026, p. 6
Through different initiatives, the benches of Morena, the National Action Party (PAN) and the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) presented proposals in the Chamber of Deputies to reinforce the rights of minors in the face of police operations, prevent them from working in areas not appropriate for their age or increase the penalty for crimes against children.
Representative Gissel Santander Soto, from the Morena parliamentary group, proposed establishing the best interest of children within the National Code of Criminal Procedures, since “operational gaps” persist during acts of detention, search or police intervention, especially when these occur in the presence of minors who are not related to the facts investigated.
He explained that, between 2020 and 2022, at least 4,000 children witnessed the violent detention or capture of a family member during police operations. Citing data from the Network for Children’s Rights (Redim), he warned that this frequently occurs without measures of emotional containment or protection, so their emotional and physical integrity is usually seriously affected.
The Morenoist representative explained that her initiative aims to harmonize the criminal procedural legal framework with the constitutional and conventional standards regarding the rights of girls, boys and adolescents to expressly recognize the principle of the best interests of children as a guiding criterion for the development and execution of public policies.
For his part, deputy Ricardo Madrid Pérez, from the PVEM, proposed defining the prohibition at the constitutional level so that minors who are already of legal working age do not carry out unhealthy or dangerous work or night work in any sector.
María Del Rosario Guzmán Avilés, from the PAN, proposed increasing the penalties for kidnapping when the victims are children under three years old. He indicated that in addition to the seriousness of the crime, it is even more risky when it is committed during early childhood, especially in the stage between zero and three years, which, he said, is of crucial importance in the physical and mental development of minors, who need the presence of their parents at all times.
