Blaze News investigates: Texas seeks to shut down NGO for alleged involvement in human smuggling

Many non-governmental organizations have been raking in massive profits under the Biden-Harris administration's open-border policies, receiving billions in taxpayer funds to provide illegal immigrants with various services, including shelter accommodations, health care, food, legal services, job training, language courses, and more.

Due to the administration's refusal to shut down the border and unrelenting dedication to expanding so-called "lawful pathways" for foreign nationals, the country's immigration system has become overwhelmed. This unprecedented situation has allowed the federal government to justify pouring massive resources into NGOs, functioning less as nonprofits and more like government contractors.

Problematically, some of these organizations appear to be keen not only on helping illegal immigrants who are already here, but also on helping more immigrants illegally cross the border.

Texas, however, is leading the charge in pushing back against one of these NGOs, the El Paso-based nonprofit Annunciation House.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a lawsuit against Annunciation House, aiming to shut it down after he claimed his office found overwhelming and undeniable evidence that the organization has "by its own admissions," facilitated illegal immigration.

Annunciation House did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.

What is Annunciation House?

According to Annunciation House's website, it is a volunteer organization "rooted in Catholic social teaching" that provides "hospitality to migrants, immigrants, and refugees."

As part of one of its outreach programs, the Border Awareness Experience, the organization takes individuals to visit the southern border, listen to the stories of illegal immigrants, and stay at a shelter. Annunciation House has operated homes in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, for over four decades, according to its website.

Guests who stay at the organization's homes include "people who have come to the U.S. seeking work," "those who have fled violence and extortion in their home countries," and "undocumented families living in El Paso, who have come upon financial hardship," the site reads.

Timeline of events

On February 7, Paxton served Annunciation House with a request to examine, demanding a number of the organization's documents, including all services it provides to illegal aliens, all facilities it operates within Texas, all applications for humanitarian relief funding, all documents provided by and to illegal aliens as part of the organization's intake process, and all logs identifying illegal aliens who have received its services.

Annunciation House told Paxton that it would provide a response "within 30 days," to which the AG's office replied that it expected "immediate access." The following day, Annunciation House filed a temporary restraining order against the AG's office.

'Let's have a workshop on asylum.'

"The Attorney General came to Annunciation House on February 7, 2024 stating that the organization had one day to turn over a broad swath of records to the Attorney General without an explanation. Annunciation House asked a Court to decide what documents the law permits the Attorney General to access. There is nothing illegal about asking a Court to decide a person's rights," the organization wrote in a press release.

Annunciation House asserted that Paxton's "real goal is not records but to shut down the organization." It accused the AG of holding an "illegal, immoral and anti-faith position."

In July, 205th District Judge Francisco Dominguez granted Annunciation House's request to block the AG office's request to examine, arguing that it "was a pretext to justify its harassment of Annunciation House employees and the persons seeking refuge."

Dominguez called Paxton's attempt to shut down the organization "outrageous and intolerable." He claimed the request for documents violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act by burdening the organization's "free exercise of religion."

In response to the ruling, Paxton immediately announced his intent to appeal.

"For too long, Annunciation House has flouted the law and contributed to the worsening illegal immigration crisis at Texas's border with Mexico," he said. "I am appealing this case and will continue to vigorously enforce the law against any NGO engaging in criminal conduct."

Texas' lawsuit

The AG office's investigation into Annunciation House was prompted by a request from Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) to probe any NGOs "planning and facilitating the illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders." The AG's office has also requested documents from other NGOs operating in Texas that are providing aid to illegal aliens.

As a result of its investigations, Paxton's office found that "Annunciation House is in a category of its own among these NGOs" because it is "openly operating in violation of the law without any pretense of trying to comply with the law."

The lawsuit lodged against Annunciation House claims that the organization is not only facilitating unlawful immigration but also harboring illegal aliens in its shelters and shielding them from law enforcement.

"By its own admissions, Annunciation House is engaged in systematic conduct that constitutes illegal alien harboring and operation of a stash house, as a matter of law — both of which constitute felony offenses under the Texas Penal Code," the suit read.

The complaint claims the organization has repeatedly admitted to doing so, citing several examples, including a 2023 media report from El Paso Matters that quoted Ruben Garcia, the founder and executive director of Annunciation House.

The article stated that the NGO provides shelter accommodations to approximately 300 individuals, "many of whom are stuck in limbo because they were never processed by immigration officials."

Garcia reportedly told the news outlet, "They're saying, 'We want to present ourselves. We want to get processed. We want to proceed with our asylum.' So from that was born the idea, let's have a workshop on asylum."

In other words, Garcia allegedly admitted that Annunciation House is aiding illegal immigrants whom federal immigration officials have not processed. Under the Biden-Harris administration, foreign nationals seeking to enter the U.S. must only present themselves at a port of entry, surrender to a Customs and Border Protection agent, and request to apply for asylum. Those who do so will undergo an abbreviated vetting process and, once that is completed, be released into the country on their own recognizance with years-out court dates to review the validity of their asylum claims later. Because of this, there is little reason for foreign nationals to try to evade border agents, as they will likely be allowed into the country so long as they do not have a criminal record within the databases federal officials can access, which is typically limited to U.S. and Interpol databases.

'To call our houses of hospitality "stash houses." Is there no shame?'

"If the allegations of the attorney general are true, this is a very serious matter," Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, told Blaze News. "They seem to have this NGO's own words and statements that appear to corroborate what the attorney general is saying about them — that this NGO is more than just an emergency shelter. It's become, in effect, a stash house, and it's not serving the desperate migrants seeking shelter and safety, but deliberately opening its doors to those who have evaded the Border Patrol."

The individuals allegedly mentioned by Garcia in the El Paso Matters article have chosen not to surrender to law enforcement, which could indicate that when they illegally entered the country, they intentionally evaded Border Patrol agents or otherwise snuck in undetected.

The article provides further evidence of this by mentioning a family receiving assistance from Annunciation House after "avoid[ing] Border Patrol when crossing the Rio Grande."

The New Yorker interviewed Garcia just weeks after Paxton filed the lawsuit, and he told the news outlet that Annunciation House has the "freedom" to help both those with pending asylum cases and those who are "undocumented" because the organization "rarely accepts" federal funding and relies primarily on donations.

According to USA Spending, Annunciation House has directly received over $800,000 from the Department of Homeland Security since 2023 for its "shelter and services program." The grant notes that the funding should be used to provide accommodations to "migrants recently released from DHS custody," meaning those who have been processed by federal immigration officials.

As further evidence that Annunciation House has allegedly admitted to illegal activity, the AG's lawsuit cited a 2018 court filing from its then-legal coordinator, who described assisting a foreign national in Mexico with crossing into the U.S. after he was previously turned away by Border Patrol officials.

‘They call themselves advocacy groups … but what they really are is government contractors.’

Additionally, the lawsuit noted that the organization's website states that it operates shelters in Mexico for those looking to migrate to the U.S.

"Annunciation House's website is replete with advocacy broadcasting to the world that it is a welcome site for illegal border crossers," Paxton's complaint read. "For example, Annunciation House's website boasts that its activities have 'enabled Annunciation House to become the primary receiving site for refugees who have fallen from the border wall.'"

Annunciation House denies claims

Annunciation House has repeatedly denied Paxton's claims that it facilitates human smuggling.

According to the group's legal counsel, the organization does not determine who is allowed to enter or remain in the U.S., but "only provides basic services to vulnerable families — food, clothing, a place to lay their heads." The organization has compared itself to schools and hospitals that have provided services to illegal immigrants in the U.S.

"If the work that Annunciation House conducts is illegal – so too is the work of our local hospitals, schools, and food banks," the organization said in a press release responding to Texas' lawsuit. "The Attorney General's illegal, immoral and anti-faith position to shut down Annunciation House is unfounded."

During a February press conference addressing the case, Annunciation House emphasized its Catholic roots and accused Texas of attacking a religious organization. The group was joined by El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser (D), who declared that the city would "not turn its back on anybody" and claimed bipartisan support for the organization.

Garcia stated during the news conference, "I personally am taken aback by the use of words like 'smuggling.' To call our houses of hospitality 'stash houses.' Is there no shame? To refer to houses of God, houses of hospitality, as 'stash houses.'"

Garcia repeatedly referred to the organization's shelters as "houses of hospitality."

Nonprofits or government contractors?

Vaughan told Blaze News that there have been concerns for many years that some of the NGOs providing humanitarian services to illegal aliens are crossing the line "into actually sheltering and harboring, and thereby encouraging illegal immigration."

"They operate funded primarily with taxpayer dollars, and yet they consider themselves to be largely immune from transparency or any examination of their activities," Vaughan said of the NGOs.

She called Paxton's lawsuit against Annunciation House "very important and groundbreaking," noting that other states across the nation are watching to see how this case turns out for Texas. If its lawsuit is successful, it may encourage more states to seek legal action to halt other similar NGOs' operations.

"These organizations, they call themselves advocacy groups or charitable organizations, or even NGOs, but what they really are is government contractors who are being paid by the government, seeking work with the federal government to perform these services to illegal migrants. In effect, resettling illegal migration, assisting illegal migrants," Vaughan continued.

'Must be on a PR campaign to try to discredit this investigation.'

In the case of Annunciation House, its legal counsel has claimed that Texas' lawsuit has no validity but is meant to attack a Catholic-based organization. Ever since Paxton initiated the lawsuit, several media outlets have criticized the attorney general for targeting religious freedoms.

Jerome Wesevich, a lawyer for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which is representing Annunciation House, called the lawsuit "an attack on religious freedom."

In a June report, the Catholic Review seemed to defend Annunciation House, stating that Paxton's lawsuit "appeared to downplay the 'religious component'" of the organization's mission. National Catholic Reporter featured a guest opinion piece from a writer who previously volunteered at Annunciation House. She called Paxton's claims of human smuggling "beyond outrageous."

A number of Catholic bishops rallied behind Annunciation House, voicing their support for the group and its work. Even Pope Francis addressed the lawsuit during a "60 Minutes" interview in May.

"That is madness, sheer madness, to close the border and leave them there," Pope Francis stated. "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 humanly."

The wave of lockstep support behind Annunciation House, condemning Texas for going after a religious-affiliated organization, prompted Vaughan to question whether it was all part of a public relations push.

"Catholic charities and other Catholic leadership organizations must be on a PR campaign to try to discredit this investigation and characterize it as anti-humanitarian and anti-Catholic. And I find that very troubling," Vaughan told Blaze News.

Paxton's lawsuit challenged whether Annunciation House "even has any bona fide religious component."

On its website, Annunciation House states that it "accepts volunteers from all faith traditions (and those who do not claim a faith tradition)." It also notes that there is "no proselytizing" in its shelters but adds that "Catholicism is central to the history and life of our organization." According to the organization, volunteers are expected to attend Mass.

However, Annunciation House director Mary Bull provided a deposition about the organization's religious practices that contradicted the website's claims. She stated that guests are not required to participate in any religious services and explained that those services are not regularly offered, noting that "it depends on who's available." According to Bull, the longest period of time she recalls that the organization did not offer Mass was "maybe nine months, ten months." Bull stated that Annunciation House does not provide confessions, baptisms, or communion.

The legal battle between Texas and Annunciation House continues to unfold, with the organization maintaining its claim that it does not facilitate illegal immigration but provides humanitarian aid to those in need. If Texas proves unlawful activity, the outcome of the case would assuredly catalyze additional similar lawsuits in other states, potentially impacting the operations of Annunciation House and all other NGOs providing services to illegal immigrants.