AUSTIN - Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured leave from the Fifteenth Court of Appeals to file a lawsuit to force a non-profit to forfeit its charter.
Last year, Paxton sued Familias Immigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha, a “radical organization,” according to the AG, that facilitates illegal immigration.
Paxton alleged FIEL engaged in unlawful political activities despite claiming a tax-exempt non-profit status, which prohibits lobbying.
The suit claims FIEL openly called for people to vote against President Donald Trump and told Texas lawmakers to vote against border security legislation.
Paxton asserts FIEL violated its own charter that prohibited it from lobbying, and broke laws governing charitable organizations.
“Anti-American organizations like FIEL’s aim is to destroy our country and flood our nation with foreign invaders,” said Paxton. “They claim the benefits of a non-profit organization while flagrantly violating our laws by taking prohibited political action, and the Fifteenth Court of Appeals made the right decision in allowing this case to move forward.
“FIEL explicitly told supporters not to vote for President Trump. This is illegal, unacceptable, and must be punished to the full extent of the law.”
Court records show the trial court denied the state’s motion for leave to file a petition seeking to revoke FIEL’s charter, leading to the appeal.
The 15th Court reversed the trial court’s order and rendered judgment granting the state’s motion for leave to initiate quo warranto proceedings against FIEL to forfeit its charter.
“Because we conclude that the State may institute quo warranto proceedings based on allegations that a corporation has acted ultra vires, we reverse the trial court’s order and render judgment that the State’s motion for leave is granted,” the opinion states. “We remand all other issues for consideration in light of this opinion and the supreme court’s opinion in Annunciation House.”
Paxton had accused Annunciation House, a nongovernmental organization, of unlawfully harboring illegal aliens. The Texas Supreme Court remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings after finding the trial court erred in denying the state's request for records.
Appeals case No. 15-24-00110-CV
