EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing El Paso’s Annunciation House and seeking to revoke its registration to operate in the state, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
“The Office of the Attorney General reviewed significant public record information strongly suggesting Annunciation House is engaged in legal violations such as facilitating illegal entry to the United States, alien harboring, human smuggling, and operating a stash house,” according to a news release on the Attorney General Office website that was published online Tuesday, Feb. 20.
Annunciation House is “a volunteer organization that offers hospitality to migrants, immigrants, and refugees in El Paso,” according to the group’s website.
KTSM reached out to Annunciation House for comment about the lawsuit. They said they were preparing a statement and would hold a news conference on Friday.
The Attorney General’s Office said in its news release that it has “demanded” access to certain records from Annunciation House to “evaluate these potential legal violations.”
“But Annunciation House refused to produce a single document and, in response, sued the OAG to enjoin the Attorney General’s enforcement ability to obtain their documents. OAG has complete and unlimited authority to examine business records to ensure that entities operating within the State are doing so lawfully,” according to the news release.
“And the consequence of a flagrant failure to comply with such a request is that OAG may terminate the business’s right to operate in Texas. The OAG lawsuit seeks to revoke Annunciation House’s authorization to do business in Texas and asks the court to appoint a receiver to liquidate their assets,” the news release continued.
Paxton, a Republican, said: “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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