Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday asked the state’s Supreme Court to allow his office to continue its efforts to shutter an El Paso-based shelter network that assists asylum seekers and other migrants.
Paxton has alleged the shelter network, Annunciation House, aids illegal migration by “operating a stash house” and tried earlier this year to have the Catholic nonprofit’s network of shelters closed after the state demanded records from the organization related to its operations and migrants who have used its services, which include shelter and transportation.
Annunciation House was granted a temporary restraining order and asked for more time to decide which documents to turn over; Paxton’s office in turn filed a countersuit.
A state district judge in El Paso ruled earlier this month that the state’s request was unenforceable because immigration is under the purview of the federal government.
Annunciation House executive director Ruben Garcia told The Texas Newsroom on Monday he wasn’t surprised by Paxton’s latest move.
“We were expecting that. We are very sorry that he is appealing the decision. Our hope had been that it would have been left alone and that we could continue on with our work,” Garcia said. “But obviously he has a different mindset.”
Paxton’s office said in a statement Monday that state district Judge Francisco Dominguez’s decision, based partly because of Annunciation House’s affiliation with the Catholic church, was without merit.
“The judge concluded that it was ‘outrageous and intolerable’ that the Office of the Attorney General would even investigate this conduct,” the statement reads. “The judge falsely accused the Office of the Attorney General of investigating Annunciation House because of the organization’s ‘support for the Catholic Church.’ The judge’s assertion is not supported by any evidence, and the judge tellingly failed to identify any.”
In a post on social media, Paxton said he is appealing directly to the Supreme Court of Texas because: “For too long, Annunciation House has flouted the law and contributed to the worsening illegal immigration crisis at Texas’s border with Mexico.”
Paxton’s office added that his investigation into Annunciation House began as a result of Gov. Greg Abbott’s request to investigate non-governmental organizations’ efforts in “planning and facilitating the illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders.”
The legal battle is just one of several Texas’ Republican leadership is in the grips of after taking a larger role in state-based immigration enforcement. Other efforts include Operation Lone Star, a three-year effort to secure Texas’ southern border by surging Texas Department of Public Safety officers and Texas National Guard soldiers to the border. The operation has cost taxpayers billions in taxpayer money.
Other Texas GOP-backed border efforts include legislation like Senate Bill 4, which would allow local law enforcement officers to arrest a person suspected of being in the country illegally. Under the legislation, state judges are authorized to order a person to return to Mexico, regardless of their immigration status. The law is currently blocked pending an appeal before a federal appeals court.