Ugh.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can move forward with his efforts to gather records from El Paso’s Annunciation House to investigate his claims that the migrant shelter network was harboring undocumented immigrants, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.
“We conclude that the trial court erred in its constitutional holdings. We likewise conclude that the court’s related injunctions, which prevent the attorney general from even filing a quo warranto action, were premature at best. Our primary holding is that the attorney general has the constitutional authority to file his proposed quo warranto action, which simply allows the usual litigation process to unfold,” the state’s highest civil court said in an 8-0 decision.
Quo warranto is a centuries old legal term, with roots in English common law, that requires a person or organization to show what authority they have for exercising a right or ability they hold. In this case, Paxton is challenging Annunciation House’s right to do business in Texas. The ruling noted that this is the first time in more than a century that the Texas Supreme Court ruled on a quo warranto proceeding.
Ruben Garcia, founder and executive director of Annunciation, told El Paso Matters Friday that the organization is looking at the full ruling and couldn’t comment until they have a complete understanding of all its implications.
The ruling contains some good news for Annunciation House, particularly on what constitutes the crime of harboring an undocumented immigrant.
“Annunciation House is certainly correct on one point, as the attorney general now agrees: that merely providing shelter to persons who happen to be migrants, regardless of their legal status, does not violate the alien-harboring statute,” the justices ruled.
But the court also found that the attorney general had shown “probable ground” to proceed with a quo warranto action to determine whether Annunciation House violated the state harboring statute.
El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz, who has supported Annunciation House in its battle with Paxton, in a statement to El Paso Matters said he was waiting for an interpretation of the ruling’s implications.
“Our preliminary understanding of today’s Texas Supreme Court decision is that it allows the court case to proceed in relation to the Attorney General’s investigation of Annunciation House. While this is disappointing, I have faith that justice will prevail and stand in solidarity with Annunciation House that works to faithfully uphold the Church’s mission to help the least amongst us.”
The court overturned a July 2024 ruling by 205th District Judge Francisco Dominguez of El Paso, who ruled that the “outrageous and intolerable actions” by the Attorney General’s Office were unlawful and relied on unconstitutional statutes. Paxton’s office appealed the decision directly to the Texas Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in January.
Friday’s ruling sent the case back to Dominguez for further proceedings in line with the Supreme Court decision.
[…]
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, who has called Paxton’s actions politically motivated, said Annunciation House has provided humanitarian support for immigrants in coordination with Border Patrol for decades.
“It is shameful that embattled AG Ken Paxton abuses the resources and power of his office to bully those he doesn’t agree with,” Escobar said in a statement to El Paso Matters.
See here for the previous update. Rep. Escobar is absolutely right, and as a reminder Paxton has tried this same tactic against multiple other immigration-focused charities. At least one of those cases is going through the regular appeals process, so we could be getting more rulings soon. It is my hope that when this returns to Judge Dominguez’s court he throws it in the trash again. The Trib has more.