Texas AG Ken Paxton's moves to have El Paso's Annunciation House closed temporarily

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking another legal shot at El Paso nonprofit Annunciation House.

Last week, Paxton filed a motion for an injunction against the Catholic nonprofit alleging that his office has "sworn testimony indicating that Annunciation House's operations are designed to facilitate illegal border crossings and to conceal illegally present aliens from law enforcement," according to a news release from the attorney general's office.

"Any NGO (non-governmental organization) facilitating the unlawful entry of illegal aliens into Texas is undermining the rule of law and potentially jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of our citizens," Paxton wrote in the release. "All NGOs who are complicit in (President) Joe Biden's illegal immigration catastrophe and think they are above the law should consider themselves on notice."

For decades, Annunciation House has offered hospitality to migrants and refugees in El Paso. The volunteer organization has played a critical role in helping migrants released by Border Patrol officials who are seeking asylum in the U.S. or other forms of immigration relief.

A spokesperson for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid confirmed in an email that attorneys representing Annunciation House are working to file a response. No hearing has yet been set.

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid attorney Jerome Wesevich said Paxton's latest claims are simply more bluster.

"What matters here is what the Court does, not what the Attorney General says," he said. "While the attorney general drums up attention to his false claims, Annunciation House continues to serve refugees as the law allows and as the Gospel commands."

Paxton's assault on Annunciation House began in early February when he demanded that the nonprofit hand over extensive documents related to its clients and accused it of operating a "stash house." Annunciation House requested an extension to review what information it was legally required to divulge, but the state denied that request.

Annunciation House filed a lawsuit shortly after that to delay the release of the records, prompting Paxton to file another lawsuit accusing the group of "worsening illegal immigration," until a judge decided in March that Annunciation House did not have to turn over documents until a court ruled on which documents were required to be handed to the attorney general's office.

The latest injunction filed on May 8 by Paxton, which accuses Annunciation House of "illegal alien harboring" and "operation of a stash house," seeks to temporarily halt the organization's operations until the documents requested by the state are handed over.

"The papers are all heat and no light," Wesevich said in a news release. "The Court set forth an orderly process for deciding this case, and Annunciation House intends to follow that process so that Annunciation House and other non-profits have a clear statement of their rights and responsibilities when the Attorney General serves them with subpoenas."

In her own statement, state Rep. Lina Ortega, D-El Paso, blasted Paxton's office for levying further burden upon an already-stretched Annunciation House.

"In the name of the Gospel, Annunciation House has served those in need passing through the El Paso community for decades," she wrote. "It is disgraceful to see the attorney general's office continue its legal attack on this Catholic mission with politicized claims of criminal conduct. The time and resources Annunciation House must now commit to defending itself should be spent on continuing care for migrants, a population historically ignored and more recently demonized by state leadership."