EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against El Paso’s Annunciation House has sparked many local leaders to respond in support of the local NGO.
The Annunciation House operates several shelters in El Paso, Texas, and has been providing services to migrants and refugees for over 46 years, according to their website.
Ken Paxton is seeking to revoke the local NGO’s registration to operate in the state, after his office reviewed records that suggest the Annunciation House engaged in multiple legal violations. Alleging they have facilitated illegal entry into the U.S., engaged in human smuggling, and that they are operating a stash house for migrants.
Here are what some local leaders have said in response to the lawsuit.
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar
“What happened to the Annunciation House is, I feel, part of a pattern of intimidation that we may see in different parts of the community as it relates to migrant support services.”
Senator Cesar Blanco
“These allegations against Annunciation House will have a chilling effect on the humanitarian assistance so badly needed along our border. Moreover, disrupting the work and services of Annunciation House and other NGOs will only exacerbate homelessness and deteriorate health and safety conditions in our communities.”
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego
“It stung every one of us, I think every elected official. We all rely so much on Ruben Garcia and the Annunciation House.
“They have been a support system for us and we, myself, other elected officials and the other NGOs depend a lot on Annunciation House being able to handle the number of migrants coming into our community.”
El Paso County Commissioner David Stout
“I have far more faith in the works of Annunciation House, which has done nothing but help people for more than 40 years, than I do in the politics of the state of Texas. State Leadership are doing their best to disrupt efforts to deal humanely with migration, which is a global concern due to climate change, persecution, and corruption.”
Marisa Limon Garza, executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center
“There’s a way that this smuggling law makes being a good Samaritan an unlawful act, that you’re breaking the law. If you’re providing care and support to someone who’s a newcomer or someone who’s been in our community for decades.
“The state is using every tool that it can to make sure that the welcome that we provide here in our region is illegal.”
Fernando Garcia, executive director for the Border Network for Human Rights
“We are not going to be deterred. We’re not going to be afraid. I know that the governor is promising going after every organization and all of the organizations doing humanitarian work, but also the work that we’re doing. I mean, he’s taken up an irrational, racist, political decision criminalizing not only immigrants but also organizations that actually are providing help and support at the border.”
Meanwhile Ken Paxton commented on the lawsuit with a quote on his office’s website reading: “The chaos at the southern border has created an environment where NGOs (nongovernment organizations), funded with taxpayer money from the Biden Administration, facilitate astonishing horrors including human smuggling. While the federal government perpetuates the lawlessness destroying this country, my office works day in and day out to hold these organizations responsible for worsening illegal immigration.”
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