Paxton has been targeting Annunciation House for months, alleging that the organization has been facilitating illegal immigration. In February he filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit, asking the District Court of El Paso County to revoke the organization’s nonprofit registration and prohibit it from continuing to operate in Texas.
The district court rejected that petition in March, claiming that Paxton was seeking the closure “without regard to due process or fair play.”
On Wednesday, the attorney general claimed to have “reviewed and obtained sworn testimony” indicating that the nonprofit is engaging in illegal immigration activities.
Paxton said the group’s “own sworn testimony” as part of ongoing legal proceedings show that Annunciation House “knowingly shelters illegal aliens” and “even goes into Mexico to retrieve aliens who[m] border patrol denied.”
The Catholic group further “conceals those people in its shelters from law enforcement,” Paxton’s office alleged.
“Any [nongovernmental organization] facilitating the unlawful entry of illegal aliens into Texas is undermining the rule of law and potentially jeopardizing the safety and well-being of our citizens,” Paxton said in the press release.