By Berenice Garcia
Texas Tribune
McALLEN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cannot depose the leader of a McAllen migrant shelter, a Hidalgo County judge ruled Wednesday.
District Judge Bobby Flores’ decision shuts down attempts to compel the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley to submit to questioning on the shelter’s operations.
An attorney for Catholic Charities, William Powell, said he hoped the ruling put an end to the attorney general’s investigation into the organization’s work.
"We would hope that at this point they've realized that Catholic Charities complies with the law in all the work they do,” Powell said.
In a statement after the ruling, executive director of Catholic Charities, Sister Norma Pimentel,
The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for an interview.
The attorney general's office filed a petition to depose Catholic Charities last month, saying it was investigating whether the organization is illegally harboring migrants or illegally encouraging them to enter or remain in the country.
Catholic Charities, a nonprofit that provides food, shelter and other basic necessities to asylum seekers, people experiencing homelessness and others in need, said it has not violated any laws and the attorney general’s office has not presented any evidence to the contrary.
The nonprofit has become one of the latest targets in Paxton's efforts to shut down nonprofits that provide assistance to migrants.
Earlier this month, an El Paso judge denied the attorney general's efforts to shut down a migrant shelter network there on claims it was violating state law by helping people the state suspected of being undocumented immigrants.
Lawyers for the state accused El Paso’s Annunciation House of violating state laws prohibiting human smuggling and operating a stash house. But state District Judge Francisco Dominguez ruled that the state law was “unenforceable” because it was preempted by federal law.
Federal law also provides anyone who enters the country the right to request asylum. Migrants who cross the border in the Rio Grande Valley and have been allowed to remain in the country while awaiting an asylum hearing are delivered by U.S Customs and Border Protection to the Catholic Charities respite center in McAllen.
Catholic Charities argued that the attorney general's office failed to show that there would be any benefit to the deposition.
"The petition represents a fishing expedition into a pond where no one has even seen a fish," attorneys for Catholic Charities wrote in their response to the attorney general’s petition.
The attorney general's office initially requested documents from Catholic Charities in April. Over the course of a few months, Catholic Charities turned over more than 100 pages of documents regarding how it hires and trains staff as well as its rules and procedures for admitting migrants, including required documentation, its process for applying for federal funds, and its relationship and communication with federal, state and local law enforcement.
The organization also submitted a sworn statement from Pimentel, its executive director, in which she responded to questions on operations, funding and communication with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
To read entire article, click on link: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/24/texas-border-charities-migrants-attorney-general-investigation-court-r/?mc_cid=39ec7fe348&mc_eid=6718cd91d5
13 comments:
Of course
Church is the biggest lobbyist!!!
If Trump wins, he wants Paxton as USA AG. If not now, later. Who knew that Catholic meant coyote?
texsas governer ass secretary of nothing and da mayor here as runner (goffeer) numero uno, gotta be white to work in the white house, we all know that!!!!
Unfortunately the truth is that Catholic Charities is not honest about the millions upon millions they rake in from the US government to provide services for immigrants. It is definitely a windfall profit for them. They hide behind the church to obfuscate how and where the money goes. Charity MY ASS!
Esa Monjita Pimentel se mira bien larga. I don't think she fears God. She looks like the kind who does bad mean things in the name of the Lord.
Let's not forget the 1960 cover-up murder of Irene Garza by Catholic priest John Feit, if that was not a setup political platform case coverup by Hidalgo District attorney Rene Guerra than you need to research and educate yourselves. As soon as new Hidalgo County District Attorney Rodriguez took office John Feit was convicted of the Irene Garza murder. It took 50 years to convict this Catholic Priest of murder with the same evidence that was collected in the 1960 criminal case. To top this cover-up Feit had attacked an Edinburg Pan America student not even a month before he killed Irene Garza. The Catholic Church supposedly handles its own murder criminal cases with their own laws, not the laws of the land such as Texas laws. Let's keep in mind that these non-profit catholic created entities are supported by federal and local grant monies, not from the funds of the catholic church directly. Executive Director sister Norma Pimentel runs the charitable entity but yet expects for the federal and local government to repay them for all their charitable work. The least this organization could do is explain with legal documents why and where our monies are being used. Local taxpayers and the Federal government just want a receipt and some legal documentation to justify and prove for the reimbursements and legalization of these so-called Catholic Charities. In my opinion this is some evidence to prove that the charitable organization is hiding something. By the way Judge Bobby Flores did you get a free ride promise to heaven by the Catholic Church to rule in their favor? This is my opinion.
Easy solution.
Put officers around the charities, stop people and ask for documents, arrest those that have no documents. Then take them by plane, bridge, car, to their respective countries. This will teach a lesson to the employers: hire people with documents, pay them good salaries, give them health insurance. The rich do not like this that is why the illegal aliens are allowed into the country: to clean windows, build tall buildings, cook, clean, etc
The same with drugs: stop all cars and individuals coming into the USA, offer rewards for volunteering information about the sale of drugs etc This will not happen because Americans love their drugs.
charity is a two guey street normally it's 90% memememe and 10% youyouyou.
cops don't enforce federal laws idiota!!! pinche coco mamon
Sister Norma is a Kingping!!!
Even drives a fancy import car
Where there’s money there are crooks. I say send the CIA, FBI, secret service and sheriff Garza to see if there's any shenanigans going on. It’s unjust to see how the catholic organizations today shelter and hide illegals from Mexico and Central America, when during WWII they turned in Jews to the Nazis for cash. The illegal aliens today are breaking federal law. The Jews of yesteryear broke no laws. The Jewish community has only followed the law of GOD! Get rid of all federally funded organizations which is a waste of tax payer money and use that money to give free health care to all US citizens!
everybody who is anybody in the church drives a brand new car EVERY YEAR. BOLA DE MAMONES, AND THEY CHANGE THEIR CLOTHES TO REGULAR STREET CLOTHING SO BODY CAN ID WHO THEY ARE. FACT I'VD SEEN IT...... RATAS EVERYWHERE....
CARLOS NAVARRO FROM WEST SIDE BAPTIST CHURCH IS ANORHWR CROOK/CONMAN.MAKES MILLIONS HARBORING ILLEGALS IN HIS CHURCH. PRETENDS TO BE A RELIGIOUS MAN BUT IS NOTHING BUT A CON ARTIST MAKING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. ALL IN THE NAME OF RELIGION. HE SHOULD BE REPORTED JUST LIKE PIMENTEL. SHE IS ALSO A CON ARTIST. NOTHING SAINTLY ABOUT HER. ES MAS LARGA QUE UN ALAGARTO.
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