EL PASO, Texas (CN) — An El Paso judge blocked on Monday Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to shutter Annunciation House, a decades-old El Paso migrant shelter that he claims is facilitating illegal immigration.
El Paso County judge Francisco Dominguez ruled that Paxton has disregarded due process after he demanded that Annunciation House produce documents about its operations within one day of serving the nonprofit with a subpoena.
"The attorney general’s efforts to run roughshod over Annunciation House, without regard to due process or fair play, call into question the true motivation for the attorney general’s attempt to prevent Annunciation House from providing the humanitarian and social services that it provides," Dominguez wrote.
Dominguez also questioned the motivation for the attorney general’s original inquiry into Annunciation House, which provides shelter and other services to migrants, immigrants and refugees, including assistance with applying for asylum.
"There is a real and credible concern that the attempt to prevent Annunciation House from conducting business in Texas was predetermined," he wrote in his order.
Lawyers in Paxton’s office first served Annunciation House with a subpoena on Feb. 7 for documents purportedly to evaluate if the nonprofit was in compliance with Texas law. According to Annunciation House, the subpoena did not cite any specific laws and only gave the organization 24 hours to cooperate, otherwise it would be deemed noncompliant.
The nonprofit then petitioned for a temporary restraining order. The attorney general's office used Annunciation House's supposed noncompliance as justification for a Feb. 20 attempt to shut down Annunciation House outright.
On Feb. 21, Dominguez granted Annunciation’s temporary restraining order, which lasted until a March 7 hearing for the nonprofit's request to hold off producing the documents. The judge questioned Paxton's possible political motivations during the hearing and said that the attorney general's office did not offer to act in good faith while Annunciation had, according to El Paso Matters.
Dominguez determined in his Monday order that the filing of Annunciation House’s petition for declaratory judgment meant the case would be subject to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, which already provide discovery deadlines for processing and reviewing documents.
Dominguez also said this means the Annunciation’s requests to quash the subpoena and for temporary injunction were now moot.
Jerome Wesevich of Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, counsel for Annunciation House, said in a statement, “We’re very pleased with the court’s ruling regarding Annunciation House. The court demands that standard civil procedures be followed, which will mean a fair and orderly process for determining what documents the law allows the attorney general to see."
“Annunciation House needs to collect sensitive information, including health information, concerning its guests, and it is imperative for the safety and well-being of the community that the releasing of this sensitive information be handled with care and the law in mind,” he added.
Monday's ruling does not end the case, but it does force the attorney general’s office to follow the timeline set by the rules of procedure.
Paxton’s conduct beyond this case also bolstered the judge’s concerns of ulterior political motives. The Texas Attorney General has been a vocal proponent of Governor Greg Abbott’s immigration policies, and has filed dozens of lawsuits against the federal government regarding their immigration stances.
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