Judge rejects Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to shut down Houston immigrant rights group

click to enlarge

Texas Tribune / Mark Felix

Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL Houston, speaks during a 2021 press conference about an eviction aid fair outside of the George Thomas “Mickey” Leland Federal Building in Houston.

A Houston judge on Friday denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to shut down an immigrants' rights organization that his office accused of violating nonprofit rules by making political statements criticizing prominent Republicans and Texas policy.

Harris County District Judge Ravi K. Sandill rejected a request for a temporary injunction by Paxton’s office and stopped the case from proceeding.

Last month, Paxton’s office sued FIEL — a Spanish acronym for Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha, which translates to Immigrant Families and Students in the Fight — and asked the judge to shut down the organization, claiming that it violated federal rules governing nonprofits’ political involvement when it criticized former President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott and a new state immigration law.

FIEL, which is run by immigrants, offers education, social and legal services to immigrant families in the region.

“We hope today’s ruling will let us go back to what’s really important, which is serving our membership,” FIEL Executive Director Cesar Espinosa said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our work with the community.”

Paxton’s office claimed that the group violated federal rules barring nonprofit organizations from participating in political campaigns, “carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempt to influence legislation.”

FIEL had criticized Abbott on social media and encouraged its followers to vote against Trump’s immigration proposals, and it advocated against Senate Bill 4, a 2023 state law that would let Texas police arrest people suspected of having entered the country illegally — the law remains tied up in court challenges.

Paxton’s office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, asked the judge to halt FIEL’s operations and dissolve the organization. FIEL’s lawyers responded that the group was exercising its First Amendment rights to free speech, and in court filings pointed to nonprofits that make political statements in support of conservative ideas and policies.

“We hope this is permanently the end of this case,” FIEL lawyer Fátima Menéndez, of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said Friday.

Paxton’s office has also sued a migrant shelter network in El Paso and tried to depose the leader of a migrant shelter in the Rio Grande Valley, alleging that the groups engaged in human smuggling. Judges in those cases have so far rejected Paxton’s arguments. His office has also reportedly sent information-seeking letters to Angeles Sin Fronteras in Mission and Team Brownsville, which provide basic necessities to migrants such as food and water.

This article originally appeared in the Texas Tribune.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.