Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Houston immigrants’ rights org over political speech

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s latest lawsuit against an immigrants’ rights organization claims the Houston group violated federal rules that govern nonprofits’ political involvement by criticizing former President Donald Trump, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and a new state immigration law.

Paxton sued FIEL — a Spanish acronym for Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha, which translates to Immigrant Families and Students in the Fight — a month ago in the 127th Harris County District Court and asked a judge to dissolve the organization. The immigrant-run group, founded in 2007, offers education, social and legal services to immigrant families in the region.

The lawsuit, first reported Friday by the Houston Chronicle, is the latest effort from Paxton’s office to shut down entities that help migrants by accusing those groups in state courts of human smuggling; judges have so far rejected those claims.

However the state’s lawsuit against FIEL appears to be the first to target a group far from the border and the first to target what is essentially political speech.

In mid-July, FIEL Executive Director Cesar Espinosa was sitting with two interns, talking about what a new office space would look like after Hurricane Beryl destroyed FIEL's space in Houston's Gulfton neighborhood — leaving about 13 inches of rain on the second floor — when a process server arrived to serve him with the lawsuit.

"It felt like one disaster after another. We weren't ready for it," Espinosa said in an interview Friday. "We're hopeful, as always, to continue fighting and continue uplifting our community's voices."

Texas alleged in court filings that FIEL “openly flouts” rules that say nonprofits can’t participate in political campaigns or engage in “carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempt to influence legislation.”

The initial lawsuit uses as evidence FIEL’s social media posts encouraging people to vote against Trump’s immigration proposals; the group’s advocacy during past state legislative sessions including against a 2023 law, Senate Bill 4, that would let Texas police arrest people suspected of having entered the country illegally; its support — and occasional disavowment — of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies; and social media comments criticizing Abbott.

The state asked Judge Ravi K. Sandill to issue a temporary injunction stopping FIEL’s current operations. After the court considers the merits of the suit, the state asked for a revocation and termination of FIEL’s corporate registration and certificate of formation, dissolution of its existence and a permanent injunction stopping the group from doing business again in Texas .

”The state embraces the First Amendment’s value that Americans generally should have their voices heard on all types of political matters and campaign vigorously in support of one candidate or another,” the filing states. “But it has long been the law that entities cannot enjoy (nonprofit) status while doing so.”

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund lawyers representing FIEL argued in court filings that the request for a temporary injunction should be dismissed because some of the state’s claims are years old, showing a lack of urgency.

In more detailed filings, FIEL’s lawyers argued that Paxton is not entitled to what he seeks and suggested that Paxton was retaliating against FIEL because it is a plaintiff in two federal lawsuits challenging the state’s election laws. One of the suits names Paxton as a defendant.

The lawyers said that it’s just the most recent instance of Paxton misusing a state statute to try shutting down an organization that aids migrants — as he tried in El Paso, where he filed a lawsuit aimed at shutting down a decades-old a migrant shelter network.

In one filing, the lawyers included screenshots of other FIEL social media posts showing the group explaining new laws at the Mexican consul in Houston, a flier for an immigration forum and an infographic about information that might be helpful for undocumented persons after a tornado struck Pasadena.

“The fact that Paxton, who has targeted others with whom he disagrees, is using the power of his public office specifically to target a non-profit organization because of FIEL’s exercise of its First Amendment rights to free speech and to seek redress in the courts is reprehensible and unconstitutional,” the lawyers wrote.

The attorney general’s office did not return an email seeking comment Friday.

In February, Paxton’s office asked Annunciation House in El Paso for records related to the nonprofit’s work with immigrants, alleging it operated as a stash house. A judge last month dismissed a related lawsuit filed by the state, but Texas has since appealed the dismissal.

In the Rio Grande Valley, one of the largest migrant aid groups in the state, Catholic Charities, received a similar request from Paxton’s office. A Hidalgo County judge last month ruled that Paxton could not depose the leader of the McAllen shelter, which helps migrants by temporarily providing food, shelter and other basic necessities.

Paxton’s office has also reportedly sent similar letters to Angeles Sin Fronteras in Mission and Team Brownsville.

"The attorney general's latest attack on an immigrants' rights organization follows a familiar formula of loudly publicized harassment and targeted misinformation to create fear and confusion,” said David Donatti, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Once again, he wishes to eliminate efforts to educate immigrants, their families, and our communities about our constitutional rights. His track record in court is dismal, and we hope and expect that his losing streak will continue."

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