A Texas Catholic charity announced it will continue to transport migrants in defiance of an executive order issued by the governor after it was revealed several of those migrants were COVID-19 positive.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order this week to stop the ground transportation of migrants who were detained and released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The order came after the City of La Joya issued an alert over the release of migrants with COVID-19 who were staying at a hotel without quarantine protocols. The hotel rooms are paid for by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV).

According to Border Report, Sister Norman Pimentel, the executive director of CCRGV, said they would continue to move migrants until they are directly told otherwise.

In a statement from CCRGV, the charity called the case in La Joya an isolated incident.

The statement comes after a week of controversy started by the discovery of several COVID-19 positive migrants at a Whataburger. In a statement from CCRGV, the charity claimed the case was an isolated incident and caused “a great deal of misinformation.” According to the statement, migrants who test positive and their families are kept in isolation in hotels for quarantine.

“At no time have the COVID positive immigrant families walking around exposing others in the community. They are kept in isolation until they test negative,” the statement revealed. The statement does not explain why La Joya Police encountered a group of migrants who were supposed to be in quarantine at the fast food restaurant.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.