Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to shutter a faith-based migrant shelter violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure, an El Paso judge ruled.
Paxton had sued Catholic-run Annunciation House earlier this year, demanding access to personnel and client records and describing the ministry as a “stash house” and human smuggling operation.
But District Judge Francisco Dominguez ruled the attorney general’s office failed to establish “probable grounds” in its demand for shelter records.
“The record before this court makes clear that the Texas attorney general’s use of the request to examine documents from Annunciation House was a pretext to justify its harassment of Annunciation House employees and those seeking refuge,” Dominguez said in his June 2 opinion.
Ken Paxton
Paxton also was admonished when initially claiming to pursue administrative, not criminal, action in the effort to revoke the shelter’s state license. Dominguez blocked that maneuver in March, allowing Annunciation House to keep its records private as the lawsuit against it proceeded.
“This court previously expressed its concern that the attorney general did not identify what laws he believed were being violated from the outset,” the judge said. ‘In fact, the record before the court now establishes that the attorney general was seeking evidence of alleged criminal activity all along. This is outrageous and intolerable.”
Dominguez ruled separately that Paxton’s legal action against Annunciation House “violates the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act by substantially burdening Annunciation House’s free exercise of religion and failing to use the ‘least restrictive means’ of securing compliance with the law.”
The reasons given for demanding Annunciation House records and subsequently suing were “unconstitutionally vague” and “in violation of due course of law and therefore unenforceable,” the ruling added.
But the targeting of Annunciation House is hardly a surprise in Texas, where white supremacist conspiracy theories and stridently anti-immigrant attitudes pervade every level of state government.
A prime example is Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s $11 billion program to construct a border wall, to host National Guard troops from red states to deter illegal border crossings, to transport migrants to Northern cities such as Chicago and New York, and to authorize state law enforcement to arrest and detain undocumented migrants.
The attack on Annunciation House also is part of an ongoing mobilization of hard-right Catholics who consider Catholic Charities an “enemy of the people.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has promoted the “great replacement” conspiracy theory by asserting immigrants have been allowed into the state and nation to support Democratic candidates, while Paxton’s wife, Texas Sen. Angela Paxton, claims conservatives are locked in a battle “against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,” The Texas Tribune reported. The article added the attack on Annunciation House also is part of an ongoing mobilization of hard-right Catholics who consider Catholic Charities an “enemy of the people.”
But there is no legitimate case to be made for trying to close faith-based groups that serve migrants, said Jerome Wesevich, the attorney representing Annunciation House, during a news conference after the ruling, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
Annunciation House operates a network of shelters in the El Paso area that provide housing, food and assistance to migrants in filling out U.S. asylum applications.
“There is no legal basis for closing a nonprofit that provides social services to refugees, period,” said Wesevich, a lawyer with Texas RioGrande Legal. The firm “has always believed that the attorney general’s harassment of Annunciation House is morally and legally improper.”
Mark Seitz
El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz celebrated Dominguez’ rulings in a statement provided to OSV News.
“This is a day of gratitude for El Paso, the work of Annunciation House and the resilience of our community’s hospitality workers,” Seitz said. “This is also an important moment for religious freedom and a recognition of the important role that faith communities play in helping our nation lead with compassion and humanity in meeting the challenges of migration at the border.”
Throughout the legal ordeal faced by Annunciation House, Seitz has been steadfast that Catholic officials and ministries always are ready to cooperate with authorities for the betterment of their communities. And he reiterated that stance after the June 2 ruling.
“We look forward to continuing to work with our federal and state partners in identifying solutions to our broken system of immigration, working for reform and addressing the growing humanitarian crisis of deaths at the border,” he said.
Pope Francis even commented on the Annunciation House case and the border situation in Texas during a recent interview with CBS News.
“That is madness. Sheer madness,” he said of the legal action against the shelter. “To close the border and leave them there, that is madness. A migrant has to be received, thereafter you will see how to deal with them. Maybe you have to send them back. But each case ought to be considered humanely.”
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