The American people have returned President-elect Donald Trump to the White House. And his decisive win in the Electoral College and the popular vote serves as a mandate to do all the things he promised to do – like crack down on illegal immigration. The vast expansion of this social, cultural, and economic disaster during the Biden administration has been rooted in progressives’ successful re-definition of illegals as migrants who have a fundamental right to seek asylum in the nations of the West – and religious non-governmental organizations are at the heart of this narrative.
Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken on multiple occasions has publicly affirmed a so-called right to migration under international law. Faced with a federal government fueling the crippling inundation of migrants into his state, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has attempted to break what he calls an organized smuggling network. As part of his efforts, he has honed in on a “shelter” directly affiliated with the US Catholic Church.
Annunciation House is a charity located in the Texas border city of El Paso. It is officially recognized by the Catholic Church. It is also breaking the immigration laws of this nation, critics assert.
“Aside from everything else, they are aiding and abetting the violation of laws,” Ira Mehlman, media director of the Federal for American Immigration Reform, tells The New York Post. “Clearly, Ken Paxton knows what they are up to, and that they are complicit in encouraging this whole operation of illegal immigration.”
‘Sheltering’ Migrants or Hiding Illegal Aliens?
What they are up to is no secret. In legal filings, Paxton’s office has cited a glowing 2023 feature article published by local news site El Paso Matters in which Annunciation House is praised for sheltering migrants hoping to escape Border Patrol detection.
“Kiara longs to see the Chicago that enchanted her on TV, the sanctuary city of emerald parks, elevated trains and, she hopes, plenty of jobs for people like her,” the piece begins. “She arrived in El Paso on New Year’s Eve with her husband and toddler after fleeing Venezuela more than four months ago. The family joined other migrants who avoided Border Patrol when crossing the Rio Grande, out of fear that agents would send them back to Mexico. Her family took refuge with Annunciation House, a faith-based organization that shelters and supports migrants and refugees.”
Annunciation House Director Ruben Garcia affirms the accuracy of the report. “Garcia said his organization is housing close to 300 migrants right now, many of whom are stuck in limbo because they were never processed by immigration officials. Some fear they will be deported if they turn themselves into immigration authorities to request asylum,” the news site related.
It’s hard to deny Paxton’s claim that Annunciation House is breaking the law when its director admits it.
“[I]t is a federal crime for an alien to enter the United States ‘at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers’ or to ‘elude examination or inspection by immigration officers,” a February legal filing by the Texas AG office notes.
Paxton is being pilloried for taking on Annunciation House by progressives, big-box media outlets citing “religious freedom,” and even Pope Francis himself.
“That is madness. Sheer madness. To close the border and leave them there, that is madness. The migrant has to be received,” Francis replied when asked directly about Paxton and Annunciation House by CBS News reporter Norah O’Donnell in May.
An Even Bigger Problem
This leads us to a far more significant driver of the illegal immigration crisis in America: how federal border officials are handing illegals over to religious NGOs to facilitate their unrestricted entry into the US interior.
The number of human beings involved in one Catholic diocese in one border state speaks volumes. Undercover investigative journalist James O’Keefe in January exposed an operation in which migrants were directly bused to a Catholic “refuge” group in Tucson, Arizona, after being released by Border Patrol officials.
“Casa Alitas offers shelter, necessities and travel assistance to asylum seeking families. Our guests arrive for a short stay, after their release from Border Patrol and [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] detention,” the group’s website states.
Progressive Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger is an avowed advocate of open borders. But he has been able to use the brief ICE processing migrants receive before they move on to his diocese’s “refuges” to deny he is exacerbating the illegal alien inundation in any way.
“I know sometimes people talk about ‘illegal immigrants,’ which is a title I really find offensive, or ‘undocumented,’ which is actually more accurate. But people coming to us are neither illegal nor undocumented, is that not correct?” he asks Teresa Cavendish, his chief operations officer at the diocese’s Catholic Community Services, in an August 2023 video clip posted onto YouTube.
“This is correct…. Everybody who crosses our path comes to us either from Border Patrol or Customs and Border Protection at the port of entries or ICE,” Cavendish replies.
“OK, that all makes sense,” the bishop approvingly adds. Here are the real-life repercussions of the prelate’s sophistry.
“I hope I can put your mind at ease by explaining that our Diocese has never, at any time, supported undocumented or ‘illegal’ migrants,” Weisenburger wrote to a concerned Catholic after the O’Keefe expose broke. Catholic site Complicit Clergy published the letter. “I am very pleased to note, however, that for the last 6-7 years we have helped approximately 360,000 documented and legal immigrants brought to our Catholic Community Services facilities either by United States Border Patrol or INS (immigration and Naturalization Services). Each of these individuals, without exception, was approved by these government entities and then bussed to our doors.”
Do you see how it works?
It’s an exceedingly lucrative venture for the bishop’s coffers as well.
“Migrants shared with one of our undercover journalists that NGOs, ‘get paid no matter what,’” O’Keefe reported. If Trump is going to severely curtail the “migrant” inundation of America, he cannot do so without targeting this deeply entrenched religious NGO network.
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