Texas AG Continues Effort to Shutter Catholic Nonprofit Leading “Biden’s Illegal Immigration Catastrophe”
I told you some time ago that Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General and future gubernatorial candidate, was going after a small Catholic nonprofit in El Paso called Annunciation House. A more thoroughly humble group of servants would be hard to find. Here is a bit from Annunciation House’s mission:
And so it was that little by little the volunteers were taught about who the poor were, about welcoming them and about serving them. With time the life and work of the house evolved, as did the volunteers themselves. Some left and new ones came. There has never been but a small number of volunteers living and working in the house at any given time. So also has the work never been but a tiny effort in the face of great numbers and tremendous needs.
There is always more left to be done at the end of the day than there was when it started. There is always a never-ending flow of guests to be welcomed and assisted. There is always a new opportunity to discover the meaning of Johns words, Little children, let us love in deed and in truth and not merely talk about it. There is always a never-ending opportunity to serve and meet Christ among the poor and to little by little experience the Gospel more deeply and try to live it more fully.
The problem, according to the AG, is that Annunciation House is sheltering and feeding all sorts of poor people, including migrants who came across the Rio Grande river rather than through America’s front gate. The AG thinks that helping any and all poor people without first checking out their immigration papers makes Annunciation House an unindicted co-conspirator in a human smuggling operation. So he opened an investigation, one that a Texas judge said was a politically motivated attempt to “run roughshod,” over the rights of the tiny nonprofit.
AG Paxton persists, despite the judge’s rather pointed rebuke. Last week, he filed a motion seeking to enjoin Annunciation House from continuing its “systematic criminal conduct” in support of illegal immigration. Here is part of the recent filing:
On December 14, 2022, Governor Greg Abbott recognized that non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”) “may be engaged in unlawfully orchestrating [certain] border crossings through activities on both sides of the border,” including specifically “near El Paso.” See Office of the Governor, Governor Abbott Calls for Investigation of NGOs Aiding Illegal Crossings (Dec. 14, 2022), https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-calls-for-investigation-of-ngosaiding-illegal-crossings (“Governor Abbott Letter”). And the Governor called for “an investigation into the role of NGOs in planning and facilitating illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders.” Id.
Annunciation House has long been at the epicenter of this conduct. Specifically, there is significant public record evidence set forth infra at pp. 20-28 suggesting that Annunciation House’s is systemically violating multiple criminal statutes. Accordingly, and pursuant to Governor Abbott’s request, OAG initiated an investigation into Annunciation House’s activities. Namely, on February 7, 2024, OAG served upon Annunciation House a Request to Examine (“RTE”), pursuant to chapter 12 of the Texas Business Organizations Code, seeking access to several discrete categories of documents relevant to this conduct.
The 30 plus page filing complains about the Biden administration and Annunciation’s “bragging” about providing food and shelter to illegal immigrants. As a legal pleading, it’s fairly pathetic. The Catholic Bishop in El Paso denounced the effort and Annunciation’s counsel describe the filing as “all heat and no light.” But it should play well on the campaign trail later.
darryll k. jones