Texas targets religious groups helping migrants along U.S.-Mexico border

El Paso, Texas — Prayer is paramount at Annunciation House, a network of shelters in this Texas border city that has housed and fed destitute migrants for nearly half a century.

At one of the Catholic association’s shelters, several migrants, most of them families with children, gathered to pray before enjoying hearty meals prepared by a group of American volunteers. The hungry migrants thanked God for the food and prayed for those still trying to reach the United States.

The prayer was led by Ruben Garcia, founder of the House of the Annunciation in 1978 and who continues to lead it as director.

“We come from a Catholic tradition. But it’s not Catholic. It’s not Lutheran. It’s not Episcopalian, Methodist or Presbyterian. It’s Christian. It’s Jewish. It’s Muslim,” Garcia told CBS News. “Every one of those faith traditions is based on the principle, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’”

For many migrants entering the United States near El Paso, historically one of the busiest migration corridors along the southern border, Annunciation House is the first stop to get hot food, a change of clothes, showers and a place to sleep before planning their journey to their final destination, which tends to be major U.S. cities.

Throughout its decades-long history, Annunciation House has housed tens of thousands of migrants, offering new arrivals in need a lifeline to the United States and helping Border Patrol agents prevent dangerous overcrowding at government facilities during spikes in illegal border crossings that have plagued Republican and Democratic presidents alike.

But at a time of growing political polarization over U.S. immigration policy, Annunciation House now finds itself at the center of a legal battle with the state of Texas that could lead to the religious organization’s closure.

A “reserve house”

The legal battle began in February, when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office demanded documents from Annunciation House as part of an investigation into the nonprofit, saying shelter officials would be breaking the law if they refused to comply.

Annunciation House filed a lawsuit asking a state judge to stay Texas’ records request while he reviewed the case. That request was granted. But Paxton’s office later asked the same judge to shut down Annunciation House, accusing the nonprofit of violating state law.

“Annunciation House is engaged in a pattern of conduct that constitutes the illegal harboring of immigrants and the operation of a hiding place, under the law – both acts that constitute serious misdemeanors under the Texas Penal Code,” Paxton’s office said in a legal filing.

Paxton’s office said it was monitoring Annunciation as part of a broader effort to enforce a directive from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that called for investigations into migrant-aiding organizations. Under the Biden administration, which has faced record levels of illegal border crossings, Republican lawmakers in Washington and across the country have accused nongovernmental groups of encouraging illegal immigration by housing and feeding migrants.

In their legal filings, Texas officials said Annunciation House has helped not only migrants released by federal immigration agents, but also those who entered the country illegally without being processed.

Earlier this month, state Judge Francisco Dominguez denied Texas’ request to shut down Annunciation House and imposed requirements on any future records requests from Paxton’s office. In a scathing order, Dominguez denounced Paxton’s records request as a “pretext to justify his harassment of Annunciation House employees and asylum seekers.”

Texas authorities, Dominguez added in his order, did not initially disclose that they were investigating the charity for alleged criminal wrongdoing. “This is outrageous and intolerable,” he wrote.

Last week, Paxton’s office informed Dominguez that it was appealing his rulings to the Texas Supreme Court. He did not respond to multiple interview requests or questions, including about how many migrant-serving organizations he is investigating.

According to court documents, the Texas attorney general is also investigating Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the main organizations hosting migrants in the region. A judge recently denied Texas’ request to remove a representative of the organization who allegedly had knowledge of its alleged role in “facilitating the crossing of migrants across the Texas-Mexico border.”

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley called the Texas operation a “phishing expedition,” noting that it provided documents to Paxton’s office. In a statement to CBS News, the charity said it provides “immigrant services in accordance with the letter and spirit of all laws.”

“We will always strive to fulfill our legal obligations while continuing to resolutely pursue our mission, inspired by Sacred Scripture and the social teaching of the Catholic Church,” the non-profit organization added.

“I think it’s happening because of politics”

Garcia, the director of Annunciation House, said his organization simply helps desperate people in need.

“The state of Texas has no reason to want to go after an NGO whose entire history is dedicated to human rights. I think it’s because of politics,” Garcia said.

If Texas succeeds in closing Annunciation House, migrants like Wilson Juárez Hernández could find themselves in limbo. The 22-year-old from Guatemala has been living in one of Annunciation House’s shelters since he survived. a fire in a Mexican migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez that killed 40 migrants last year.

“Many friends, many young people my age died,” Juárez Hernández told CBS News in Spanish.

Although he and other migrants survived, he noted, “not all of us came out unscathed.”

The smoke Juárez Hernández inhaled during the fire left him disabled and confined to a wheelchair. He was allowed to enter the United States for medical treatment. For a time, he was unable to eat, bathe, or dress without the help of others. With no family in the United States, Juárez Hernández has nowhere to go in the United States if Texas closes Annunciation House, which funds his physical therapy and medical expenses.

Although it is not yet known whether he will be able to walk again, Juárez Hernández has gradually learned to do most basic activities on his own, such as eating and dressing himself. He is also learning English and still dreams of becoming a doctor, a dream he has had since he was 10 years old.

“Happy,” he said, is his favorite word in English so far. When asked why, Juárez Hernández replied, “Because I’m always happy.”