He just can’t quit harassing them.
An El Paso nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants and migrants has filed a lawsuit that attempts to block an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has increasingly targeted groups on the border that assist people seeking to enter the United States.
The federal lawsuit seeks to block Paxton’s efforts to obtain records from the El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center on the Biden administration’s efforts to provide legal immigration pathways to people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
“Las Americas has been serving the communities of El Paso, New Mexico and Ciudad Juárez for over 37 years. Whether it’s assisting immigrant families and individuals seeking immigration relief and pathways, or reuniting a mother who was separated from her 3-year-old because of cruel anti-immigrant policies, we accompany the most vulnerable on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. The attorney general’s attack against this work is troubling,” Marisa Limón Garza, executive director of Las Americas, said in a statement Thursday.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in El Paso.
“The Attorney General has served a Civil Investigative Demand (“CID”) on Las Americas, inquiring into and seeking production of information contained in client files and relating directly to the legal services Las Americas provides to its clients. Las Americas seeks nothing more than to carry out its mission to help vulnerable immigrants in need, and this baseless investigation threatens its ability to deliver these already limited legal services,” the lawsuit states.
[…]
Las Americas was founded in 1987 by Ruben Garcia and other co-founders of Annunciation House to provide legal services to Central American migrants fleeing civil wars.
The agency represented some of the earliest families that were separated by the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy in 2017 and 2018.
Las Americas has sued the state of Texas and the Biden administration over border enforcement policies.
The nonprofit’s federal lawsuit said the Texas Attorney General’s Office served them with a civil investigative demand on Sept. 4, citing “an investigation regarding ‘fraudulent and deceptive legal representations and services.’”
The attorney general demanded that Las Americas turn over communications with federal immigration agencies regarding the Biden administration’s parole programs that provide legal immigration opportunities to people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The demand also asked for Las Americas to provide documents on the assistance it provided to people seeking parole.
The deadline for compliance was Friday, Sept. 27, the lawsuit said.
As a result of the attorney general’s action, Las Americas is now telling clients that it cannot guarantee that their communications with lawyers will be kept confidential, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit says the Attorney General’s Office is violating Las Americas’ First Amendment rights and asks the court to block Paxton from seeking the nonprofit’s records. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama of El Paso.
“We’re witnessing a disturbing pattern in Texas in which immigrant legal services and voting rights are under a coordinated siege by the Attorney General under the guise of protecting voter integrity. These actions are perpetuating a dangerous anti-immigrant narrative that is having a direct impact on Latino communities across our state ahead of a federal election cycle, threatening the power of our collective voice as Texans,” said Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which is representing Las Americas in the lawsuit.
See here for the previous entry. The Trib adds on.
Separatel, Paxton’s office joined 19 other attorneys general in filing a federal lawsuit in January 2023 that aims to stop the federal migrant sponsorship policy that is the subject of the Las Americas investigation.
President Joe Biden launched the program in December 2022 to discourage illegal crossings into the U.S. To be eligible under the program, an individual needs an American sponsor who will support them financially.
The policy has become a lightning rod among some Republican elected officials who have cast the initiative as an illegal mass-parole program.
More recently, the attorney general’s consumer protection division has targeted nonprofits whose missions are largely in opposition to his politics, an investigation by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica found. These organizations work on issues like immigration, gender-affirming medical care and fostering a diverse workplace.
Lawyers for Las Americas said Paxton’s probe into the nonprofit appears to be the first time the attorney general’s office has specifically cited the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act as the basis for an investigation of an immigration nonprofit.
This is the first such lawsuit filed in a federal court – the other four were filed in state court – and this is my best guess for why, since neither story questioned that. The obvious downside to that is that from here it will go to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a fate no one deserves. I’ll keep an eye on it.
UPDATE: That was quick, and unfortunate.
A federal judge on Friday denied a request from Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center to block a request that it turn over documents to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama of El Paso criticized Las Americas for waiting until the eve of the attorney general’s deadline for compliance before filing its request for a temporary restraining order.
“Plaintiff has informed the Attorney General’s office about the pending TRO Motion via email. Because Plaintiff filed the Motion so close to the September 27th compliance deadline, however, the Attorney General hasn’t had a reasonable opportunity to appear in the case and oppose Plaintiff’s request,” said Guaderrama, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2011 by President Barack Obama.
Las Americas hasn’t said whether it will turn over records to the attorney general by Friday as demanded in the request. A spokesperson for the nonprofit declined comment to El Paso Matters. The Attorney General’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
[…]
In his ruling, Guaderrama returned repeatedly to the last-minute nature of Las Americas’ filing. He said federal court rules discourage last-minute requests for temporary restraining orders because such actions create a disadvantage for defendants.
“Had Plaintiff promptly filed this lawsuit shortly after receiving the CID on September 4, 2024, the Court would have had plenty of time to make an informed ruling on Plaintiff’s TRO Motion. The Court could have set an expedited briefing schedule, given the Attorney General a chance to respond to Plaintiff’s arguments, researched and analyzed the governing case law, and ruled on the Motion in advance of the September 27th deadline. For reasons that Plaintiff hasn’t explained, however, Plaintiff instead waited until several hours after the courthouse closed on September 25, 2024 to file its lawsuit and move for a TRO — leaving only one full business day between the Motion’s filing date and the September 27th deadline,” Guaderrama wrote.
Not sure what comes next. To whatever extent this might be relevant to your life, make a note of that.