Judge rules against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in Annunciation House lawsuit

A Texas state district judge rejected Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to close the Annunciation House in El Paso, ruling that the state failed to show sufficient cause to close the Catholic nonprofit and that the state violated the organization's religious freedom.

Judge Francisco X. Dominguez, who presides over the 205th District Court, issued a ruling on Tuesday, July 2, rejecting Paxton's efforts to shut down Annunciation House and force the organization to release the documents of the asylum seekers it supports.

“What the Attorney General was trying to accomplish by closing the Annunciation House and demanding documents was completely illegal,” said Annunciation House attorney Jerome Wesevich during a press conference a few hours after the verdict was announced. “The court agreed with us on all points. All we can say at this point is that we hope the Attorney General recognizes and respects the limits of his power that the court has established.”

“There is no legal basis for closing a non-profit organization that provides social services to refugees. Period.”

The Texas Attorney General's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. The attorney general has 30 days to file an appeal.

“I have not spoken to them (officials from the Attorney General's Office) about today's ruling,” Wesevich said. “Of course, they are also reviewing (the ruling) and will decide whether they have grounds to appeal. If so, we will go ahead and oppose the appeal. That is due process as required by law. We will always be prepared to pursue that.”

Judge rules that Attorney General violated religious freedom of Catholic non-profit organization

Paxton claimed in a lawsuit that Annunciation House is a “hiding place” that provides illegal services to migrants. Officials at Annunciation House have denied providing illegal services. The migrants housed there have been released by federal immigration authorities while they await a decision on their asylum claims.

Dominguez ruled that the Attorney General's Office had failed to establish sufficient suspicion that the Annunciation House had violated criminal laws.

Dominguez also stated in his ruling that the allegations that Annunciation House violated criminal laws were “unenforceable” because they “preempt federal law.”

More:The 4th Amendment to the US Constitution and religious freedom are the main arguments in the legal dispute between the Annunciation House and the Attorney General of Texas

In its ruling, the attorney general's demand that Annunciation House turn over documents “violates the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act because it substantially restricts Annunciation House's free exercise of religion and fails to use the 'least restrictive means' to ensure compliance with the law.”

Dominguez added that Paxton's demands for the documents were “unconstitutionally vague, a violation of due process of law, and therefore unenforceable.”

The documents contained names, dates of birth, medical histories, medications required by the migrants and the names of their family members.

More:Texas Attorney General and Annunciation House again dispute over documents of the organization

The legal battle between Paxton and Annunciation House began in February, when Paxton sent three lawyers to Annunciation House and demanded that the organization turn over private documents about the migrants it had sheltered after their release from federal custody. The migrants were released from federal custody while awaiting hearings on their asylum claims.

Annunciation House officials refused to release the documents and filed a lawsuit asking a judge to decide which, if any, documents the organization was legally required to release. Paxton then filed a countersuit claiming Annunciation House was a “stash house.”

“I can't really speak to the attorney general's motives,” Wesevich said. “It always seemed to us that this is politically motivated because nothing like this has ever been tried before. That the government is going after nonprofits that are simply providing social services and going back to 100-year-old laws that have never been used in this way to try to do these kinds of things. There's a lot of evidence that this is purely politically motivated.”

In a hearing on March 7, Dominguez stated that the Texas Attorney General's office acted “unprofessionally” and had “ulterior political motives” when it requested the documents from Annunciation House.

Dominguez again questioned Paxton's actions in his ruling on Tuesday

“It is clear from the record before this Court that the Texas Attorney General used the request for access to Annunciation House documents as a pretext to justify harassment of Annunciation House employees and those seeking refuge there,” Dominguez wrote in his ruling.

He added: “As the chief law enforcer of the State of Texas, the Attorney General has a duty to uphold all laws and not to selectively interpret or abuse those that can be manipulated to advance his own personal beliefs or political goals.”

Dominguez called Paxton’s actions “outrageous and intolerable.”

“In fact, the records before the court show that the Attorney General was looking for evidence of alleged criminal activity all along,” Dominguez wrote in his ruling. “This is outrageous and intolerable.”

With his actions, Paxton is trying to portray the border in a bad light for political reasons, Wesevich said.

“Who does this help?” Wesevich asked about the attorney general's motives. “It just presents a picture of chaos at the border, a picture that some people want to promote politically. But that's not the case in El Paso. El Paso has been very, very good to refugees and treated them with dignity and shown how to manage the border in a way that doesn't endanger the health and safety of children.”

El Paso residents react to judge's ruling

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso said the ruling was an important moment for religious freedom.

“This is a day of gratitude for El Paso, the work of Annunciation House, and the resilience of our community's hospitality workers,” Bishop Seitz said in a statement. “This is also an important moment for religious freedom and a recognition of the important role faith communities play in helping our country address the challenges of migration at the border with compassion and humanity. We look forward to continuing to work with our federal and state partners to find solutions to our broken immigration system, advocate for reform, and address the growing humanitarian crisis of deaths at the border.”

Democratic U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar of El Paso called Paxton's actions against the Annunciation House a “repulsive political attack.”

“Annunciation House and its volunteers are critical partners of the federal government helping to provide temporary protection to migrants released by CBP,” Escobar said on X, formerly Twitter. “I am relieved that Ken Paxton's disgusting political attack, which wasted state and local resources, has been dismissed by the court.”

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