Texas Attorney General and Scrooge-for-life Ken Paxton is back at it again — and by that we mean he’s going after another group that’s trying to help other people. This time, the MAGA Grinch is targeting a South Austin nonprofit that dares to provide care and compassion to people experiencing homelessness.
Yes, in a bold move to protect Texas from the terrifying scourge of charity, Paxton set his sights on Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, an Austin-based organization whose primary crime is trying to help people. Paxton announced two days before Thanksgiving that he wants the center shut down for one year.
It has been operating out of Sunrise Community Church since 2015 and offers a bunch of services to unhoused individuals. From food and cold weather gear to medication storage, health care assistance, and help with housing applications, the center is basically a one-stop shop for keeping people alive and giving them hope. So clearly the answer, if you’re Texas, is to sue the shit out of them.
In his lawsuit, Paxton accuses the center of being a “common nuisance” and wants it shut down for a year — or at least banned from operating within 1,000 feet of anything remotely kid-related, like schools or playgrounds. Why? Because, according to Paxton, Sunrise’s clients have engaged in “inappropriate and threatening behavior,” which he claims is traumatizing the local neighborhood, especially the kids and staff at nearby Joslin Elementary.
“This organization is threatening students’ health and safety and unjustly worsening daily life for every single resident of the neighborhood,” Paxton declared, presumably while frowning at a picture of a homeless person receiving help.
He alleged in the filing that students and staff at Joslin “bear witness to the homeless walking around naked, fornicating, relieving themselves in public, and engaging in open drug use.” The suit also claims that people “receiving services from Sunrise have repeatedly broken into the school or otherwise forced the school to enter into ‘lockdown’ due to violent behavior.”
The City of Austin, Paxton huffed, has given more than $1 million to Sunrise. (Wait, real quick: Does anybody remember what an attorney general’s job is?)
To be fair, there have been issues with Sunrise’s proximity to an elementary school, and Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter told KXAN this year that his office does get complaints about homeless activity in the neighborhood. But considering the group’s successes, the answer could always include working with them to deal with those challenges instead of outright shutting them down.
Sunrise Executive Director Mark Hilbelink wondered why Paxton decided to pull this stunt on Thanksgiving week (same, Mark). Calling the lawsuit “regrettable,” Hilbelink reminded everyone that Sunrise is not just a nonprofit but a faith-based ministry protected by the First Amendment and other laws shielding religious institutions.
“Sunrise intends to keep offering services to people in our community who need them,” Hilbelink said in a statement. “We are committed to being a good neighbor. We will continue to work, every day, to support Joslin Elementary School, our neighborhood, and our entire community.”
For a center accused of being a menace, Sunrise sure has some impressive stats. In 2023 alone, it served over 10,800 clients, helped 803 people connect to housing, and fielded more than 23,000 calls through its hotline, which just expanded to triple its hours.
In a sane state, this would be celebrated (and ideally copied elsewhere). But Paxton, ever the watchdog of public decency, is apparently more concerned about how these services are being delivered. As Jesus said: “Feed the hungry. No, not like that.”
Sunrise isn’t backing down, though. Hilbelink said his group “is one of the strongest leaders in the Austin community at bringing innovative, low-barrier, and smart solutions to issues that have been difficult to address in homeless services for years.” Translation: We’re trying to fix problems, not sue them into oblivion.
Paxton regularly pulls bullshit like this. At least five times this year, his office launched investigations into immigration-focused nonprofits in Texas — one of the most recent was an El Paso group that offers legal services.
Anyway, we look forward to Paxton suing Santa Claus next month for being a socialist, because not every kid should get a present.
