Annunciation House is a nonprofit organization that provides services to illegal immigrants who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas. The group was formed in the 1970s in a building owned by the Catholic Diocese of El Paso to provide services to the poor and eventually began focusing most of its efforts on housing illegal immigrants seeking services in the United States.

Annunciation House states it has hosted over 500,000 illegal immigrants and refugees from over 40 countries in the same building the group has used since it was founded. In 2024 the Texas Office of the Attorney General sought an injunction to stop the group from operating its programs, citing “testimony indicating that Annunciation House’s operations are designed to facilitate illegal border crossings and to conceal illegally present aliens from law enforcement.” ^{1 2 3}

Background

Annunciation House was founded in 1977 when a group of young adults took over the use of a two-story brick building in El Paso located about ten blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border that was owned by the Catholic Diocese of El Paso. With the blessing of the bishop, five individuals moved into the building with “only vague ideas about how the poor would be served.” Eventually, the group noticed that illegal immigrants would return to the shelter after being denied other local services and “thus the decision was made that the undocumented would be the ones whom Annunciation House would primarily serve.” ⁴

Since the late 1970s the house states that it has hosted over 500,000 refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants from over 40 countries. The group maintains that it is a Catholic organization and cites religion in most of its publications. ⁵

In 2022, the group called on the Biden administration to end the Trump administration’s “Migration Protection Protocols” that required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases were being considered. The group stated that such policies “criminalize migration” and “block people from exercising their human right to migrate, request asylum, and seek safety, and are an affront to the Church’s position regarding the right to migrate and the centrality of human dignity.” ⁶

Activities

Texas Attorney General Action

In 2024 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) issued a request for documents from Annunciation House in an “effort to understand its operations,” in response to which the group sued the Attorney General’s office claiming the group has a religious right to refuse compliance with the investigation. In May 2024, Paxton’s office filed an application for a temporary injunction against Annunciation House to halt its activities citing systemic criminal conduct. ⁷

Paxton’s office’s press release alleged that “Annunciation House’s own sworn testimony has shown that Annunciation House operates as a criminal enterprise. It knowingly shelters illegal aliens who evaded border patrol when crossing. It even goes into Mexico to retrieve aliens who border patrol denied. Then, by its own admission, it conceals those people in its shelters from law enforcement. It will let any alien in, yet it paradoxically refuses to comply with any law enforcement demands. Its own website even boasts that it houses people who crossed the border with ‘help from a coyote.’” ⁸

In response, Annunciation House issued a statement that did not address the allegation but cited the group’s position as a recognized Catholic charity and said its work is no different than “schools who enroll children of refugees [or] the clinics and hospitals who care for the needs of refugees.” ⁹

In June 2024, Judge Francisco X. Dominguez of the 205th District Court issued a series of rulings blocking Paxton’s countersuit, claiming his, “…use of the request to examine documents from Annunciation House was a pretext to justify its harassment of Annunciation House employees and the persons seeking refuge.” ¹⁰ Judge Dominguez further ruled that Paxton’s request for documents from the organization violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unlawful searches. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid attorney Jerome Wesevich, whose firm represented Annunciation House, claimed Paxton’s actions were “purely political…there is no legal basis for closing a nonprofit that provides social services to refugees, period.” ¹¹

1. “Attorney General Ken Paxton Seeks Injunction Halting Border NGOs Systemic Criminal Conduct.” Texas Office of the Attorney General. May 8, 2024. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-seeks-injunction-halting-border-ngos-systemic-criminal-conduct-texas
2. “Our Work.” Annunciation House. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://annunciationhouse.org/our-work-v-o-v/
3. “History.” Annunciation House. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://annunciationhouse.org/about/history/
4. “History.” Annunciation House. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://annunciationhouse.org/about/history/
5. “Our Work.” Annunciation House. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://annunciationhouse.org/our-work-v-o-v/
6. “End the Structural Violence of MPP.” Annunciation House. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://annunciationhouse.org/end-the-structural-violence-of-mpp/
7. “Attorney General Ken Paxton Seeks Injunction Halting Border NGOs Systemic Criminal Conduct.” Texas Office of the Attorney General. May 8, 2024. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-seeks-injunction-halting-border-ngos-systemic-criminal-conduct-texas
8. “Attorney General Ken Paxton Seeks Injunction Halting Border NGOs Systemic Criminal Conduct.” Texas Office of the Attorney General. May 8, 2024. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-seeks-injunction-halting-border-ngos-systemic-criminal-conduct-texas
9. “Press Release.” Annunciation House. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://annunciationhouse.org/press-release/
10. Kaur, Anumita and Maria Luisa Paul. “Tex. judge blocks move to close migrant shelter, calls AG’s actions ‘outrageous.’” Washington Post, July 3, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/03/texas-judge-blocks-migrant-shelter-closure/
11. Kaur, Anumita and Maria Luisa Paul. “Tex. judge blocks move to close migrant shelter, calls AG’s actions ‘outrageous.’” Washington Post, July 3, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/03/texas-judge-blocks-migrant-shelter-closure/