Good.
A crook any way you look
A Harris County judge has denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to shut down local immigration nonprofit FIEL Houston.
Paxton originally petitioned to shut down FIEL in July for allegedly violating rules that govern the organization’s nonprofit status.
Judge R.K. Sandill, of Harris County’s 127th District Court, denied Paxton’s Aug. 15 request for a temporary injunction and petition to shut down the nonprofit. The judge’s two-sentence ruling, issued Friday, included no explanation for the denial.
Neither FIEL nor the attorney general’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.
Paxton argued that by referring to former President Donald Trump as a “son of the devil,” in Spanish, FIEL had violated government rules that limit a nonprofit’s ability to engage in political activities and the endorsements of candidates.
FIEL has yet to issue an official statement on the ruling, but the organization’s director Cesar Espinosa previously told the Landing that while it was the first time the organization had been targeted by the attorney general, he had seen Paxton attempt to silence other organizations geared toward helping immigrants.
“This is something that’s new to us as an organization, but unfortunately, we’ve seen it happen already a few times,” Espinosa said.
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee submitted a court brief earlier this week expressing support for FIEL.
Menefee asked the court to preserve FIEL’s ability to help Harris County residents, and said the county does not believe Paxton has the authority to shut down a nonprofit in that manner.
“It’s clear that the Attorney General is overstepping his role by singling out organizations like FIEL that advocate for immigrants and their families,” Menefee said in a release. “Lawsuits like this not only undermine the hard work of organizations that provide critical resources to immigrants but also perpetuate a climate of fear and division.”
See here for the background. Paxton’s usual move in these situations is to appeal and I assume he will do so here. I don’t really think he has any chance of winning, but he can harass FIEL and make them spend a bunch of money fending him off while also sending a message to others like them. That’s probably good enough for him. You know the rest, so we’ll leave it at that. The Chron and the Trib have more.
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