Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday that he has applied for a temporary injunction to halt the activities of the nongovernmental agency Annunciation House in Texas, claiming that it is helping facilitate the crossing of unlawful migrants into the U.S.
Annunciation House is a Catholic organization based in El Paso that “operates several houses of hospitality” meant to assist the “migrant, refugee, and economically vulnerable peoples of the border region through hospitality, advocacy, and education.”
Paxton’s filing for the injunction comes following a lawsuit he filed in February claiming that Annunciation House denied the Office of the Attorney General access to documents regarding potential legal violations, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
In the lawsuit, Paxton claims that the documents were necessary since the state has opened an “investigation into the organization, conduct, and management of Annunciation House.” He further alleged that the organization broke the law by “facilitating illegal entry to the United States, alien harboring, human smuggling, and operating a stash house.”
The attorney general is now seeking an injunction to stop the operations occurring at Annunciation House, claiming in a news release that the operations are “designed to facilitate illegal border crossings and to conceal illegally present aliens from law enforcement.”
The OAG claims that testimony from the Annunciation House demonstrated that the organization knowingly shelters unlawful migrants and travels to Mexico to retrieve migrants who were denied entry into the U.S. by border patrol agents.
Additionally, Paxton claims Annunciation House staff denied the OAG access to documents for religious reasons but provided “nonsensical answers” while citing “the seven commandments” when asked to explain the religious reasoning.
“Any NGO 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 said.
“All NGOs who are complicit in Joe Biden’s illegal immigration catastrophe and think they are above the law should consider themselves on notice,” he added.
Paxton is seeking to revoke any authorization Annunciation House has to perform operations in the Lone Star State due to the combination of allegedly facilitating unlawful migration and denying the OAG access to documents.
This lawsuit and injunction application come as the U.S. continues to deal with a crisis along the southern border due to an influx of migrants crossing into the U.S. unlawfully.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported more than 7.9 million encounters with unlawful migrants along the southern border since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
