Texas judge rejects state government's attempt to shut down migrant shelter in El Paso

An El Paso judge rejected Texas' request to shut down Annunciation House, a migrant shelter network run by the Catholic Church that the Attorney General said was being used as a stash house for undocumented immigrants.

However, Judge Francisco Domínguez said that Ken Paxton's claim, "even if accepted as true, does not establish a violation" of state laws prohibiting human smuggling. He added that state laws are preempted by federal ones and therefore are "unenforceable."

He also said that the state's claim "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," Texas Tribune reported.

Annunciation House has been a cornerstone for immigrants and refugees in El Paso for nearly half a century, providing essential services such as food, housing, and legal document assistance for asylum claims.

Advocates defending Annunciation House celebrated the news. A member of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, representing the shelter network, said that volunteers "have a lot of work to do and they just continue to do it. They can just do it more at peace today than they did yesterday."

The conflict began escalating in early February when Paxton's office dispatched lawyers to demand records from Annunciation House, giving director Ruben Garcia only one day to comply.

The shelter's request for judicial guidance on permissible document disclosure was interpreted as noncompliance by the Attorney General's office, leading to a countersuit aimed at shutting down the shelter network.

Then, in March, Garcia refused to turn over documents to authorities, saying this could be "detrimental" to the nonprofit organization, as migrants would lose trust in it. At the same time, he said he feared giving this information could put the migrants in danger since the people and gangs they are fleeing from in their home country could find them.

Supported by local Catholic Church contributions, the nonprofit claims to have assisted hundreds of thousands of refugees, contributing to their well-being and keeping them off city streets.

The decision to go after Annunciation House reached the highest spheres of the Church, with Pope Francis criticizing Texas officials' efforts. "That is madness, sheer madness to close the border and leave them there. That is madness. The migrant has to be received. Thereafter, you see how you're going to deal with them. Maybe after you send them back, I don't know. But each case ought to be considered humanely, right?" Pope Francis said in an interview with CBS News' 60 Minutes.

Annunciation House expanded its operations and recruited more volunteers in 2022, when migration numbers began growing exponentially.

During that period, the organization went from providing shelter to several hundred people at a time, to having to find housing for up to 10,000 per day.