Las Americas is accusing Paxton of harassing and intimidating numerous immigrant service organizations. However, the lawsuit says Las Americas believes it is the first immigration legal services nonprofit to receive a civil investigative demand, or CID, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
According to the lawsuit, the CID in question was related to an investigation into "fraudulent and deceptive legal representations and services," as governed by the act.
"The Texas attorney general is attempting to bully, for political reasons, an organization that serves some of the most vulnerable people in our population," one of Las Americas' attorneys, Winston & Strawn litigation department co-chair, Thomas M. Melsheimer, told Law360 in an email on Thursday. "His actions are unjustified and outside the bounds of the law."
Las Americas was given until Sept. 27 to provide all "documents, forms, and instructions" it gave to or received from "potential or actual immigrants and/or beneficiaries applying for the federal Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans" during the time period relevant to the investigation.
"The CID unconstitutionally interferes with Las Americas' rights to expressive association," the Wednesday filing states. "The CID does this by requiring all communications sent to DHS or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which would necessarily include confidential documents Las Americas has sent on behalf of clients — revealing those clients' identities and details of their immigration status and history."
Las Americas accuses Paxton of "weaponiz[ing] unprecedented legal strategies against immigrant rights organizations" by petitioning for the dissolution of their corporate charters, bringing actions for prelawsuit discovery and demanding records and sworn statements under the Texas Business Organizations Code.
These allegations come after, as Las Americas notes in its complaint, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Attorney General's Office in a December 2022 letter to investigate the potential role of nongovernment organizations in "planning and facilitating the illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders."
"Defendant accepted the governor's edict and, since early 2024, has instituted a series of legal actions targeting and harassing charitable immigration service organizations," Las Americas' suit says. "These legal actions have been universally condemned by the courts and defendant has lost in each of them. Nonetheless, defendant continues to attack nonprofit organizations serving immigrants, many that have served the immigrant community for decades."
By way of example, Las Americas points to the attorney general's demand for overnight shelter Annunciation House to produce documents related to the identities of immigrants it serves. That shelter is closely associated with Las Americas, the suit says.
"As a direct result of defendant's targeting of Annunciation House, and out of concern over possible enforcement of [Senate Bill 4], Las Americas made changes to its operations, including updating its security and technology systems, which forced it to divert much-needed financial resources from its core mission of serving immigrants," the suit states.
Las Americas is asking the Texas federal court for a declaratory judgment that the CID violates its First Amendment Rights and that its services and advocacy for immigrants is a protected activity.
Counsel for Las Americas did not immediately respond to Law360's request for comment.
The OAG also did not immediately respond to Law360's request for comment.
Las Americas is represented by Thomas M. Melsheimer, Scott C. Thomas, Michael A. Bittner and Ashley J. Wright of Winston & Strawn LLP, and Erin D. Thorn, Daniel Hatoum, Kassandra Gonzalez and Travis Walker Fife of the Texas Civil Rights Project.
Paxton is represented by Edward L. Marshall of the Texas Attorney General's Office.
The case is Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center v. Ken Paxton, Case No. 3:24-cv-00352, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
--Editing by Amy French.
Update: This story has been updated with comments from an attorney for Las Americas.
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