By The newspaper
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sought to close one of the largest and oldest migrant shelters in El Paso, right on the U.S.-Mexico border. But a judge, in addition to criticizing the attorney general’s actions, ruled out a subpoena to protect the shelter and detain Paxton.
According to Ken Paxton, the Casa Anunciación shelter encourages migrants to enter the United States illegally, as well as promotes human trafficking and the operation of a safe house, conduct that Judge Francisco X. Domínguez described as “scandalous.”
Violates constitutional rights
El Paso Judge Dominguez ruled that Paxton’s attempt to enforce a court order to produce records of immigrants receiving care at the Casa Anunciacion shelter violates the shelter’s constitutional rights.
Her ruling bars Paxton from seeking those records and also protects the shelter from what she called “harassment and overreach” by the attorney general’s office.
Judge Dominguez noted that Paxton failed to identify what laws he believed were being violated by requesting the documents.
“The record before this court makes clear that the Texas Attorney General’s use of the request to examine Annunciation House documents was a pretext to justify his harassment of Annunciation House employees and individuals seeking refuge,” the judge wrote in a document shared by the Telemundo network.
“In fact, the record before the Court establishes that the Attorney General was seeking evidence of alleged criminal activity from the beginning, this is outrageous and intolerable,” Dominguez added.
They demanded the records of the migrants
State officials visited the El Paso shelter in early February to demand immediate access to records, including medical and immigration documents, of migrants who had received services there since 2022.
Officials who oversee the shelter network said they were willing to comply but needed time to determine what they could legally share without violating their clients’ constitutional rights.
Jerry Wesevich, the attorney representing Annunciation House, said corporations are protected under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, AP reported.
“Chaos at the border”
“All of that is going to mean more people on the streets of El Paso. Who does that help? All it does is provide a narrative of chaos at the border, which is a narrative that some people want to promote politically,” Wesevich said.
Team Brownsville, which helps migrants abandoned by federal agents in the border city of Brownsville, also received a letter in May demanding documents.
According to local media, Paxton is also suing Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley for testimony, the agency reported.
With information from AP
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