Shoars family before DCS. Photo provided by Shoars family.
by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff
Tabitha and Jeff Shoars have just received word that a judge has allegedly approved a request for 2 of their children in Arizona DCF custody to travel to a dangerous area of Mexico for a week with their foster parents – a request that the Shoars did NOT approve. They are terrified for their children.
Unconstitutional Gag Order Was Issued in January
The Shoars were placed under a gag order in January so that they cannot speak publicly about the actions of DCS in taking custody of their children. Since that time, they have stayed out of the limelight and remained silent about their case, where a tragedy took the life of one of their children. Arizona DCS immediately seized the other 7 children, placing them in several different foster homes. Their story has drawn the compassion of tens of thousands of people.
Original story here:
Arizona CPS Takes 7 Children Away from Parents after Accident
No charges have been filed against Jeff or Tabitha, but their children remain in state custody.
They have chosen to cooperate with the restriction of their freedom of speech, which is seen as unconstitutional according to some of the top legal authorities in the United States. They have done so in the hopes that justice would eventually be served and their children would be returned to them.
Arizona Court Issues Gag Order on Family of 7, Detective Wants to Subpoena Interview on Radio
Family Court Judges’ Unconstitutional Gag Orders On Parents
At Risk of Violating Gag Order, They Feel They Must Speak Up – For the Safety of Their Children
The Shoars realize that DCS will not be happy with them speaking up, but the threat of what could happen to their children if they go to Mexico is too great for them to remain silent.
The U.S. State Department has recently issued travel warnings for the region where the foster parents are planning to take the children, and these warnings are “terrifying” to the Shoars:
“Sonora is a key region in the international drug and human trafficking trades and can be extremely dangerous for travelers. Travelers throughout Sonora are encouraged to limit travel to main roads during daylight hours. The region west of Nogales, east of Sonoyta, and from Caborca north, including the towns of Saric, Tubutama, and Altar, and the eastern edge of Sonora bordering Chihuahua, are known centers of illegal activity, and non-essential travel between these cities should be avoided. Travelers should also defer non-essential travel to the eastern edge of the state of Sonora, which borders the state of Chihuahua (all points along that border east of the northern city of Agua Prieta and the southern town of Alamos), and defer non-essential travel within the city of Ciudad Obregon and south of the city of Navojoa. You should exercise caution while transiting Vicam in southern Sonora due to roadblocks that can be instituted ad hoc by local indigenous and environmental groups. U.S. citizens visiting Puerto Peñasco should use the Lukeville, Arizona/Sonoyta, Sonora border crossing, and limit driving to daylight hours.”
Tabitha is reportedly terrified for her children, wondering what possible valid reason the foster parents could have for wanting to take her children into such a dangerous region, where human trafficking and drug cartels are rampant, and drivers are cautioned to drive only in certain areas, and then only in the daylight.
The children do not have passports, and the foster parents assumedly only have copies of their birth certificates, not the originals or certified copies that would be required for re-entry into the United States.
Tabitha Shoars is asking:
“What if they don’t come back? What if they are kidnapped. Or worse?”
“Can we call the FBI?”
Photo provided by Shoars family.
Due Process Denied
When the foster parents first made the request, Tabitha and Jeff reportedly denied the request, as is their parental right, which they legally still retain. They learned on Friday that the foster parents petitioned the judge for the unusual request, and he approved it. Allegedly, judges tend to universally deny such requests.
The Shoars state that the law mandates that there must be a conference or a hearing in such cases, for the parents to voice their concerns to the judge. This never happened. There is a hearing scheduled, but it will not happen until after the children are scheduled to be across the Mexican border.
Their court-ordered visitation will not be able to happen during the time that the children are to be in Mexico with the foster parents.
A supporter posted on the Freedom and Justice for the Shoars Family Facebook page posted this statement:
“Under 18 USC 1204 and 18 USC 241, this is considered kidnapping! Please also note that this is 18 years in prison per child.”
How Much Risk Is Acceptable for a Foster Child?
How much risk to a child does a parent have to see before the DCS authorities intervene? Or is intervention by child protective services only applicable when the children are with their biological parents? Why does the system remove children from their family of origin, only to place them in situations where they can be in more danger than they ever were at home? Why would a judge rule that people can take children who do not belong to them to a place known for human trafficking? These are some of the questions that supporters of the Shoars family are asking.
What You Can Do
Phone calls may be made to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey at 602 542 4331 or 520 628 6580, asking him to intervene and stop the Shoars children from being transported out of the country to Mexico. Governor Ducey may also be reached here. His Facebook Page is here.
Greg McKay is the Director of Arizona Department of Child Safety. 602 255 2500 is the phone number for the DCS office, and the office may be contacted here. Director Greg McKay is also on Twitter.
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