FILE – Migrant parents socialize outside the Annunciation House, June 26, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. On Monday, March 11, 2024, a Texas judge ruled in favor of Annunciation House, a large migrant shelter on the U.S.-Mexico border that Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to shut down over claims that the facility encourages migrants to enter the country illegally. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office accused the El Paso Annunciation House of human smuggling during a declaratory judgment hearing Monday.
The hearing was held via Zoom, where state attorney Rob Farquharson said the Annunciation House was in violation of record-keeping practices and knowingly concealed migrants in the country illegally from law enforcement.
Jerry Wesevich, the attorney representing Annunciation House, said there was no evidence of concealing evidence from law enforcement and added that corporations have Fourth Amendment rights against illegal searches and seizures.
Wesevich also said the AG office’s claims were too vague and unconstitutional, adding that the Annunciation House serves migrants under the “Catholic faith” and restricting its practice or shutting the migrant advocacy nonprofit would be a violation of religious freedom.
Wesevich also asked for state District Judge Francisco X. Dominguez’s analysis of Paxton’s demands to prevent the threat of future demand.
Dominguez concluded the hearing by saying that he would give an answer in two weeks.
Pope Francis is watching the situation. In May, he told CBS the effort to close the operation was “madness.”
“(It’s) 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?” Francis said.