‘Is there no shame!’ Catholic El Paso migrant shelter DENIES running human smuggling ring and blasts Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for calling ‘House of God a stash house’
A Catholic migrant shelter in El Paso has hit back at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over “baseless” allegations that the charity is running a human smuggling ring.
Annunciation House, a well-known and respected migrant charity in West Texas, has been accused by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of “harbouring aliens, human smuggling, and operating a stash house.”
Earlier this week, the top prosecutor in the Lone Star State said he would shut down the nonprofit by suspending its business license after refusing to turn over documents he wanted.
Flanked by El Paso’s top elected and religious leaders, Annunciation House director Ruben Garcia called Paxton’s actions an attack on Catholic groups doing the work of the Gospel.
‘Personally, I am shocked by the use of words such as ‘smuggling’. To call our houses of hospitality ‘warehouses’. Is there no shame in referring to houses of God and a house of hospitality as ‘storehouses,'” Garcia said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on February 7 demanded documents from the Annunciation House, a migrant charity in El Paso, Texas.
Migrant children from several Latin American countries rest on cots in one of Annunciation House’s many shelters in El Paso, Texas
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, pictured Feb. 16 as he leaves a hearing in Houston for a security fraud crime in which he is a suspect
For 46 years, Annunciation House has been taking in migrants and giving them a place to stay, meals and a place to wash as they enter the U.S. in El Paso after being screened, vetted and legally released into the country by federal immigration authorities.
Most migrants passing through El Paso do not stay in the border city, with the vast majority traveling to other places in the US.
Annunciation House volunteers also help migrants connect with friends and family members who can purchase a ticket for the out-of-town migrant.
On Feb. 7, the Republican attorney general sent lawyers to Annunciation House, giving the organization one day to turn over documents “without explanation,” the religious group said.
“The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has reviewed significant public records information that strongly indicates that Annunciation House is involved in legal violations, including facilitating illegal entry into the United States, harboring aliens, human smuggling, and operating a warehouse,” Paxton’s office alleged. on it’s own press release Tuesday.
In legal filings, Paxton pointed to reporting on Annunciation House, where the organization admitted to “harboring migrants who evaded Border Patrol” as they illegally crossed the southern border.
Migrant families are dropped off at an Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas after being processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in December 2022
Annunciation House director Ruben Garcia called Ken Paxton’s actions ‘immoral’ and ‘illegal’
Migrant children from several Latin American countries wait for food at a new center opened by the Annunciation House to help the surge of migrants being released by U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso, Texas, on April 24, 2019
Asylum-seeking migrants are dropped off at Annunciation House in El Paso in December 2022 after being screened by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
When Annunciation House’s attorney told Paxton’s office it would respond within 30 days, the AG’s office told the charity they would be closed.
The nonprofit filed a lawsuit to block Paxton’s request for data and what their attorney called “government overreach.”
“Attorney General Paxton claims he can walk into any business at any time and demand any documents he wants — including customer records, medical records, legal records,” attorney Jerry Wasevich said Friday.
“He claims that if the business does not meet his satisfaction, he can permanently close the Texas business.”
Actions by Paxton, a Republican, were largely seen as political by Democratic leaders in Texas’ sixth-largest city.
“You’re messing with Ruben, you’re messing with Annunciation House, you’re messing with us,” District Judge Ricardo Samaniego said defiantly on Friday.
“We’re going to show that this is the line in the sand.”
El Paso has faced political and legal battles against the state’s GOP leadership before, including during the pandemic over masks and business closures.
Recently, El Paso County sued the state over SB4, a Texas law that allows local and state police to arrest anyone they suspect is an illegal immigrant.
However, the courts have yet to make a final ruling as the law will come into effect on March 4.
Local leaders warned that Paxton’s intention was to shut down any religious group that helped migrants – something many far-right politicians disapprove of.
“What we see happening is part of a broader, terrifying attack on welcoming communities,” local Congresswoman Veronica Escobar explained.
“I can tell you that in the US Congress, the far-right members of the Republican Party have done everything possible to eliminate local governments and organizations that provide humanitarian care to migrants. I have heard on the House Judiciary Committee from Republican colleagues denouncing and attacking Catholic charities and the Catholic Church.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, front left, talks with his attorney Anthony Osso, Jr., during a hearing in his securities fraud case, Friday, Feb. 16, at the Harris County Courthouse in Houston. A judge on Friday rejected Paxton’s efforts to dismiss the securities fraud charge that has shadowed the Republican for nearly a decade.
Ken Paxton megadonor Nate Paul was indicted by the FBI last year. The Texas businessman at the center of an FBI investigation that he and Paxton entered into an illegal quid pro quo, with Paxton helping Paul with legal troubles in exchange for hiring Paxton’s mistress
Ken Paxton’s affair with his former mistress, Laura Olson, is at the center of allegations that Ken Paxton broke the law
Paxton has been under investigation by the FBI for years, with allegations of corruption and abuse of power. He also faces state charges in unrelated criminal cases.
In May, the Republican was impeached by the Texas House over allegations of an illegal quid pro quo: that Paxton helped one of his wealthy donors, Nate Paul, in exchange for the same donor giving Paxton’s mistress, Laura Olson, a job.
Paxton survived his firing, but he faces multiple criminal investigations in the Lone Star State.
Paxton’s office did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.