For nearly five decades, the doors of Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, have remained wide open, offering warm beds, hot meals, and solace to those in desperate need. Hundreds of thousands of refugees, families with small children, and nursing mothers—many formally released and referred by federal border authorities—have passed through its dining halls.
“If feeding the hungry and sheltering the stranger is deemed a criminal offense in Texas, then what stands on trial in court is not our shelter, but the Gospel and humanity itself.”
— Rubén García, founder and director of Annunciation House
The Texas Attorney General’s Offensive and Quo Warranto Proceedings
The quiet humanitarian mission was targeted when the Texas Attorney General’s Office, headed by Ken Paxton, issued subpoenas demanding instant production of guest logs, alleging without proof that the charity operated as an illicit “stash house” facilitating human smuggling.
The explicit aim of the state prosecution was revoking Annunciation House’s non-profit charter through quo warranto litigation, effectively terminating its shelter network. Although a state district judge rebuked the maneuver as retaliatory harassment violating the U.S. Constitution, subsequent appeals by the Texas Supreme Court remanded aspects of the dispute, prolonging legal vulnerability.
A United Front of Faith and Civil Rights
The legal offensive extends beyond El Paso: it reflects a systematic campaign targeting NGOs and pastoral organizations assisting migrants along the southern border. In response, Catholic bishops, interfaith clergy, and civil rights groups have united behind Rubén García, warning against dangerous precedents where religious charity and humanitarian care are treated as criminal conspiracies.
Despite audits and threats of forced closure, Annunciation House keeps its kitchens bustling and its volunteer teams active, demonstrating the enduring dignity of sanctuary in the face of state overreach.
