Federal judge denies Las Americas request to block Texas AG Paxton from obtaining its records
By Robert Moore
September 27, 2024
A federal judge on Friday denied a request from Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center to block a request that it turn over documents to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama of El Paso criticized Las Americas for waiting until the eve of the attorney general’s deadline for compliance before filing its request for a temporary restraining order.
“Plaintiff has informed the Attorney General’s office about the pending TRO Motion via email. Because Plaintiff filed the Motion so close to the September 27th compliance deadline, however, the Attorney General hasn’t had a reasonable opportunity to appear in the case and oppose Plaintiff’s request,” said Guaderrama, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2011 by President Barack Obama.
Las Americas hasn’t said whether it will turn over records to the attorney general by Friday as demanded in the request. The nonprofit and the Attorney General’s Office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from El Paso Matters.
Guaderrama’s ruling is potentially a major blow to Las Americas, which provides legal services to immigrants and migrants.
Paxton’s office served Las Americas Sept. 4 with a civil investigation demanding that it produce documents related to the Biden administration’s policy to grant temporary parole to some migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The attorney general gave Las Americas a deadline of Sept. 27 to comply with the order. Less than 48 hours before the deadline, Las Americas filed its suit in El Paso federal court on Sept. 25, after the courts had closed for the day.
The attorney general said it needed the documents to investigate possible violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. However, Paxton’s office also has sued the Biden administration seeking to end the parole program.
Las Americas alleged in its lawsuit that Paxton’s office was seeking to punish the nonprofit because of its efforts to help migrants with their legal issues, which Las Americas said was a violation of its First Amendment rights. It said the documents sought by Paxton included confidential client files.
The lawsuit noted that Paxton has been seeking records from several nonprofits on the border, including El Paso’s Annunciation House, that provide services to migrants. State courts have blocked those efforts so far, though Paxton is appealing the Annunciation House case to the Texas Supreme Court.
In his ruling, Guaderrama returned repeatedly to the last-minute nature of Las Americas’ filing. He said federal court rules discourage last-minute requests for temporary restraining orders because such actions create a disadvantage for defendants.
“Had Plaintiff promptly filed this lawsuit shortly after receiving the CID on September 4, 2024, the Court would have had plenty of time to make an informed ruling on Plaintiff’s TRO Motion. The Court could have set an expedited briefing schedule, given the Attorney General a chance to respond to Plaintiff’s arguments, researched and analyzed the governing case law, and ruled on the Motion in advance of the September 27th deadline. For reasons that Plaintiff hasn’t explained, however, Plaintiff instead waited until several hours after the courthouse closed on September 25, 2024 to file its lawsuit and move for a TRO — leaving only one full business day between the Motion’s filing date and the September 27th deadline,” Guaderrama wrote.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
