Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has targeted another nonprofit providing aid to migrants reaching the state, part of a crusade to crack down on what he claims are attempts to smuggle people into the country unlawfully.
This time the organization is Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, which provides legal services to low-income migrants and advocates for their rights. The group recalled that earlier this month they received a civil investigative demand from Paxton's office.
The document sought information on any relation the organization might have with the CHNV parole program, which allows up to 30,000 people from Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba to migrate legally to the U.S. provided they have a sponsor that can financially vouch for them.
The nonprofit, in turn, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the investigation, saying the claim is "baseless" and affected its operations. "Las Americas seeks nothing more than to carry out its mission to help vulnerable immigrants in need," reads a passage of the lawsuit, as reported by The Texas Tribune.
Paxton has targeted at least five organizations of the kind over the past months, but his attempts have been largely unsuccessful. The latest development took placer in late August when a Texas judge rejected his bid to question the leader of another organization.
Concretely, Travis County judge Maya Guerra Gamble, of the 459th Civil District Court, denied a request by Paxton's office to depose a representative of Team Brownsville, which provides water, shelter and other basic necessities to migrants seeking asylum in the U.S.
Paxton had argued that it had a "reasonable basis" to believe the organization was helping immigrants enter the country illegally. It also claimed that "former board members and volunteers" accused the organization of poor financial accountability regarding funds received from the government and donors. It did not specify any potential wrongdoing.
A week before a Houston judge prevented an effort to shut down FIEL, an immigrants' rights organization, after the AG's office accused it of violating nonprofit rules by making political statements after criticizing former President Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
But perhaps the most high-profile effort was aimed at Annunciation House, a Catholic charity helping migrants in the state. The initiative was even criticized by Pope Francis, who called it "madness."
"That is madness, 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?" Pope Francis said in an interview with CBS News' 60 Minutes in May.
However, despite Paxton's efforts, an El Paso judge rejected the request in July. Judge Francisco Domínguez said that the AG's claim, "even if accepted as true, does not establish a violation" of state laws prohibiting human smuggling. He added that state laws are preempted by federal ones and therefore are "unenforceable." However, Paxton has sought to move forward anyway, recently asking the state Supreme Court to allow his office continue its attempts.
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