A church in El Paso that housed migrants for five decades is being contested in court by state officials

Annunciation House helped migrants find shelter when they first came to the U.S. for several decades. Now, state officials are contesting them as "stash houses". (Credit: X)

Ruben Garcia, an influential patriarch from Annunciation House, a faith-based network of shelters based in El Paso, Texas, has taken in tens of thousands of documented immigrants into his care for nearly five decades. But with governors in conservative states working to crack down on illegal immigration, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state investigators are contending the network in court, calling them "stash houses."

Throughout the years, Garcia has collaborated with U.S. immigration officials to house and take care of undocumented migrants, providing them with food, clothes, and shelter when they first enter the country. Some of his expenses are reimbursed by the federal government.