Inside Colony Ridge: The ‘Fastest Growing Development’ In The U.S. Is A Magnet For Illegal Immigrants
Experts say growing community of illegal immigrants in Texas development invites cartel activity, is a national security issue

By Spencer Lindquist • Sep 16, 2023

https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-colony-ridge-the-fastest-growing-development-in-the-u-s-is-a-magnet-for-illegal-immigrants

PLUM GROVE, Texas — A Texas land developer has established a sprawling settlement north of Houston where thousands of illegal immigrants are believed to have settled, raising concerns among experts and elected officials that the development 400 miles in the interior of the United States could become a strategic asset for cartels.

Located in Liberty County, Texas near the small town of Plum Grove, the Colony Ridge development is a sprawling community that, based on an analysis of publicly available information, is now over 60 square miles and nearly the size of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Its population is estimated to be anywhere between 50,000 to 75,000, and it is growing rapidly thanks to a marketing plan targeted at Texas’ hispanic population.

The Daily Wire surveyed the development by helicopter to assess the true extent of its growth. The {about 1 minute of aerial footage at this link-->} flight began in the wealthy Woodlands neighborhood, but it was only minutes before the designer homes and pools gave way to half-built homes, dilapidated trailers, and heaps of trash.

Houses on the ground fly the flags of foreign countries and many homes display their addresses on spray painted pieces of plywood. Many structures, some of which are not hooked up to running water, were under construction, while others were unfinished but didn’t appear to be actively getting worked on. At least one plot of land didn’t have any structures at all, just a tent in the corner, nestled between shrubs. Stray dogs without collars could be seen trotting along the side of the underdeveloped streets.

But despite what appears to be poor living conditions throughout much of the development, Colony Ridge is exploding. The view from the sky revealed a sprawling labyrinth of roundabouts and endless rows of sidewalkless streets, with empty plots waiting to be developed. The edges of the property are dotted with construction vehicles, each one tasked with cutting and clearing the surrounding forest to make way for yet more growth.

A calculation performed based on acreage and lot data provided on the Colony Ridge website for each of their six subdivisions found that it was already more than 60 square miles, which is bigger than major southern cities such as Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Asheville, North Carolina.

Colony Ridge, owned and operated by developer William “Trey” Harris, is rapidly expanding, at least in part due to a financing arrangement that makes it possible for illegal aliens to buy land deep in the heart of Texas. While traditional financing methods require credit ratings and proof of income, Todd Bensman, a National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Wire that buyers at Colony Ridge are able to circumvent the usual requirements, even dodging the need to provide a social security number.

“Because with a traditional bank loan you need to be able to show that you have a credit rating and proof of income,” Bensman said, adding that buyers at Colony Ridge are asked to pay as little as a “few hundred dollars” as a down payment. “The loan is directly from the developer, bypassing traditional mortgages,” and while the buyer might pay high interest rates near 15%, it’s a great deal for someone with no other option to buy land in the country, Bensman explained.

Doing business as Terrenos Houston (which translates to Houston Land), the company appears to market its property entirely in Spanish, telling prospective buyers they can own land in the United States. An advertisement posted on the Instagram page for Terrenos Houston appears to target those who are either not currently living in the United States or who are not citizens of the country. The caption of the post, written in Spanish, roughly translates to “Still renting? Own land in the United States!”


-- excerpt, rest at link above -- {worth clicking through to read the entire article...}

Texas GOP Passes Unanimous Resolution Calling For Special Legislative Session On Colony Ridge
Party Chairman says illegal immigrant development highlighted by The Daily Wire should be a 'grave concern for all Texans'

By Spencer Lindquist • Sep 25, 2023

https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-gop-passes-unanimous-resolution-calling-for-special-legislative-session-on-colony-ridge

The Republican Party of Texas unanimously passed a resolution calling on Governor Greg Abbott to convene a special legislative session to address Colony Ridge, the massive housing development north of Houston that’s become a hub for illegal immigrants.

The resolution, which passed by a vote of 61-0, says a special legislative session must be convened in order to “prevent further settlement of illegal aliens in Colony Ridge and any other areas of Texas.” The power to call a special legislative session is with Abbott, who has already been urged by the state’s Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick to do the same.

The party’s resolution honed in on a number of specific concerns highlighted in The Daily Wire’s investigation of the development, noting that “the developer allows for illegal aliens to obtain loans to purchase land using Individual Tax ID Numbers (ITINs) instead of Social Security Numbers” and that Colony Ridge “has grown to an estimated 50,000 to 75,000 inhabitants and spans over 60 square miles.”

Titled “Resolution Calling for Action in Colony Ridge,” it also calls for Attorney General Ken Paxton to “initiate a full investigation into the development activities of Colony Ridge Land, LLC, and its possible connections to elected officials in the region.”

Matt Rinaldi, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, told The Daily Wire that Colony Ridge should be a “grave concern for all Texans,” but isn’t getting the attention it merits from elected officials in his own party.

“Governor Abbott needs to address this issue immediately in a special session since House Speaker Dade Phelan has refused to pass meaningful border security laws,” Rinaldi said. “We thank Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who recently said his office would be investigating Colony Ridge, and Congressman Brian Babin for his efforts to bring more attention to this issue.”

The resolution comes as several Republican leaders have expressed their concern about Colony Ridge. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asserted that it is “completely insane that they can set up these villages with illegal immigrants” while also noting that his office is looking into potential “deceptive trade practices.”

“The legislature could address this and should address this. Because right now, we don’t have a real clear path to being able to stop it,” Paxton said. “We can maybe affect the financing or the financial aspect of it to some degree but I don’t think right now the legislature has given me the authority to do anything about it.”

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Texas lawmakers find ‘nothing alarming' about Colony Ridge. say news media didn’t give full picture
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/ce...ports-dont-give
Land developer said lawmakers were invited “in response to ongoing false narratives from media and outsiders.
By The Center Square Staff
October 7, 2023 9:31am
Updated: October 7, 2023 9:31am

Article
Dig Deeper

Several state lawmakers and staff of the Texas Office of the Attorney General toured multiple subdivisions in the Colony Ridge neighborhood north of Houston.

The land developer said the official. were invited “in response to ongoing false media narratives and false statements being perpetrated by out-of-state media outlets, politicians, and special interest groups.”

“There was nothing we saw that was alarming,” state Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, told reporters after the tour. “When it came to mobile homes, we didn’t see anything out of the ordinary anything you wouldn’t see in Houston or Harris County. We saw nice neighborhoods, seems like a normal neighborhood. I do not think this is anything we should be worried about or using up taxpayer dollars to talk about,” referring to an agenda item of the third special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott.

She also said, from what she heard, “a lot of the community is not happy about the negative comments being made about [it]. Everything I’ve heard so far sounds like a wonderful community here, a family friendly community. One thing I took away from this is that people are paying high rent in the city. Here is where they can have skin in the game. They actually have a place to have a home.”

State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, echoed a lot of Morales' sentiments.

“It looks like a lot of places in east Texas,” Cain said. “It looks like my family’s place in Louisiana.” He said those on the tour asked for crime data and encouraged others to come to the neighborhood. Referring to less expensive or mobile homes in the community, he said, “Having less money shouldn’t be illegal.”-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Paxton: Two Legislators Made Colony Ridge Possible
https://texasscorecard.com/state/paxton-...ridge-possible/
Attorney General Ken Paxton says Republican lawmakers Ernest Bailes and Robert Nichols are responsible for the creation of the illegal alien housing development.
Michael Quinn Sullivan | October 19, 2023

Known nationally as a housing development for illegal aliens, Colony Ridge’s explosive expansion was made possible by a seemingly innocuous piece of legislation pushed quietly through the Texas Legislature in 2017.

As part of the current special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, lawmakers are being asked to pass “Legislation concerning public safety, security, environmental quality, and property ownership in areas like the Colony Ridge development in Liberty County, Texas.”

Responding to inquiries from the state’s congressional delegation, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is laying blame for the “unmanageable” Colony Ridge at the feet of State Rep. Ernest Bailes (R–Shepherd) and State Sen. Robert Nichols (R–Jacksonville). Liberty County, the site of Colony Ridge, is in their districts.

“Upon investigation, the Office of the Attorney General found that Colony Ridge in particular was made possible by a specific arrangement created by Senator Robert Nichols and Representative Ernest Bailes,” writes Paxton in his letter to the Texas members of Congress. “In 2017, Representative Ernest Bailes and Senator Robert Nichols specifically took action on behalf of Colony Ridge to enact HB 4341 (Chapter 3795 of the Special District Local Laws Code) which established a small, five-acre Municipal Management District from undeveloped land in Liberty County.”

The legislation to which Paxton refers is House Bill 4341, from 2017. Bailes’ measure was placed by former House Speaker Joe Straus (R–San Antonio) in the Local and Consent Committee, ostensibly for non-controversial legislation with no statewide impact. The measure was moved with a batch of more than 100 pieces of legislation through the process, drawing no specific attention on May 19, 2017. The same can be said in the Senate, where less than a week later, the bill was among those considered on the “Local and Uncontested” calendar without debate.

Inside the legislature, it is the responsibility of the authors of such legislation to inform their colleagues of potential statewide problems that could be created.

Neither Bailes nor Nichols responded to a request for comment. The article will be updated should either offer a statement.

In the case of Colony Ridge, the development has sparked national outrage for reportedly advertising itself in Central and South America to individuals seeking to enter the country illegally. Under the authority of being a “municipal management district,” the real estate developers were allegedly able to leverage government bonds and other tools to finance their expansion. This, in turn, made it possible to offer “owner-financed” loans to people without legal authorization to be in the United States.

Specifically, the legislation created the Liberty County Municipal Management District No. 1 and gave it authority to “issue bonds” as -- excerpt, rest at link above --

Quote: Sanguine wrote in post #20

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Texas lawmakers find ‘nothing alarming' about Colony Ridge. say news media didn’t give full picture
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/ce...ports-dont-give
Land developer said lawmakers were invited “in response to ongoing false narratives from media and outsiders.
By The Center Square Staff
October 7, 2023 9:31am
Updated: October 7, 2023 9:31am

Article
Dig Deeper

Several state lawmakers and staff of the Texas Office of the Attorney General toured multiple subdivisions in the Colony Ridge neighborhood north of Houston.

The land developer said the official. were invited “in response to ongoing false media narratives and false statements being perpetrated by out-of-state media outlets, politicians, and special interest groups.”

“There was nothing we saw that was alarming,” state Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, told reporters after the tour. “When it came to mobile homes, we didn’t see anything out of the ordinary anything you wouldn’t see in Houston or Harris County. We saw nice neighborhoods, seems like a normal neighborhood. I do not think this is anything we should be worried about or using up taxpayer dollars to talk about,” referring to an agenda item of the third special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott.

She also said, from what she heard, “a lot of the community is not happy about the negative comments being made about [it]. Everything I’ve heard so far sounds like a wonderful community here, a family friendly community. One thing I took away from this is that people are paying high rent in the city. Here is where they can have skin in the game. They actually have a place to have a home.”

State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, echoed a lot of Morales' sentiments.

“It looks like a lot of places in east Texas,” Cain said. “It looks like my family’s place in Louisiana.” He said those on the tour asked for crime data and encouraged others to come to the neighborhood. Referring to less expensive or mobile homes in the community, he said, “Having less money shouldn’t be illegal.”-- excerpt, rest at link above --

---

From the article:

Conservatives have long criticized the House’s “local and consent” calendar for being a refuge for legislation that might not otherwise survive the scrutiny of the regular legislative process.

Sounds like that calendar should be abolished in both chambers....

Why Colony Ridge Should Serve As A Warning To The Rest Of The Nation
If Colony Ridge Can Happen In Texas, It Can Happen In Any State.

Washington, October 5, 2023 | Rep. Brian Babin

https://babin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=10849

As originally published by the Daily Wire on October 5, 2023.

What’s happening in my backyard is proof: America is being invaded. Unfortunately, those in charge of our nation’s security are the same people hoping illegal immigrants vote for them one day. Clearly, this invasion is being deliberately enabled by the Democratic-controlled White House – purely for political gain.

Staggeringly, approximately 9 million illegal immigrants have unlawfully – including gotaways and apprehensions – entered the United States under Biden. The majority of those have been released into the interior of our country – and reportedly, many have settled in my Congressional District, in a community called “Colony Ridge” located within the boundaries of Liberty County, Texas.

Let this serve as my warning to the rest of the nation.

Colony Ridge is a land development spanning tens of thousands of acres just north of Houston, Texas, advertised as a means to own property in America. Just for scale, this rivals the footprint of Washington, D.C., with a population estimated to have already eclipsed 50,000 and growth occurring at an alarming pace. In 2019, I received a briefing from Cleveland Independent School District (ISD), a school system near Colony Ridge. During this meeting, I learned that Cleveland ISD is among the fastest-growing school districts in the state – increasing by 312% since 2011. At the current pace, Colony Ridge could have 150,000 residents by the decade’s end.

Colony Ridge has been an enormous concern since I learned of its existence shortly after taking the oath of office in 2015 – frankly, keeping me awake many nights since.

Various reports indicate that crime and violence have increased (including a cartel presence), wastewater contamination is flowing into bayous and drainage ditches, inadequate mitigation systems are causing widespread flooding, and an overwhelming burden now rests on existing infrastructure in the area – including schools, emergency services, roads, and more – and this is just a small glimpse into the state of affairs in Colony Ridge. Homes are said to be in various states of disrepair. Regardless of your view on illegal immigration, these residents appear to be living in extremely hazardous conditions.

So, how does a settlement like this come to exist in a place like Southeast Texas? It started with developers enticing desperate foreign populations to the United States with the promise of low-cost no-question property. It worsened when the local community voiced their concerns and were not heard.

Now, it is abundantly clear to me: We need immediate and swift action from leaders at all levels of the government to address the colonization of America by illegal aliens. Priority number one is to secure our southern border. After that critical task is accomplished, we must ensure that those immigrating to the United States are doing so legally and safely. This is a humanitarian concern that all Americans should be passionate about. But in reality, those on the Left see these illegal immigrants as future voters – and tragically, they prioritize that prospect over the safety of American citizens or even the migrants themselves. The establishment of settlements like Colony Ridge is a direct result of the Obama and Biden administration’s open-border policies, their very intention.

Working to mitigate and address the various impacts of Colony Ridge has been a top priority of mine in Congress. I’ve consulted with the White House, FBI, DHS, HSI, and ICE – and while I have been assured that the situation is getting better, my constituents calling my office are telling me a different story. Folks, more than eight years later, it has undoubtedly gotten worse – and we must correct course as soon as possible. To that extent, just last weekend, I led the Texas GOP House delegation in a letter to Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton regarding the above reports about Colony Ridge.

This development in East Texas – more than 300 miles from the southern border – should alarm every American. If this can happen in a red state like Texas, one of the most conservative in the nation, it can happen in any state in the country. Apparently, this is a profitable business model – how long before settlements like Colony Ridge pop up in other states? Our immigration system was meant to benefit Americans and make our country stronger – not endanger us. For the sovereignty and safety of America, I believe Texas and every other state should act decisively to close any loophole enabling the exploitation of our immigration system.

a bit more on one (awful) aspect covered in Beck's report....

Texas migrant community Colony Ridge overrun with abandoned & abused dogs — inside the effort to save them
Doree Lewak
Published Jan. 18, 2024, 4:02 p.m. ET

https://nypost.com/2024/01/18/lifestyle/abused-dogs-are-being-saved-from-texas-migrant-colony/

A controversial “illegal immigrant magnet” community in Texas has another problem to add to a list that includes cartels, crime and squalor: abused and abandoned animals.

Colony Ridge, located some 35 miles north of Houston and one of the biggest housing developments in the country, has more than 1,000 neglected animals in desperate need of rescue, advocates told The Post.

“The conditions are heartbreaking,” said John Rouke, a veteran who’s engineered previous animal rescues around the southern border.

Multiple rescue volunteers told The Post of seeing dogs suffering bullet or machete wounds. Others have been burned or hanged. Independent rescuer Lisa Noble said there are hundreds of starved and emaciated dogs at a time – “maybe more” – living in the area.

Rourke, the owner of Blue Line Moving company, is mounting a rescue effort later this week along with Big Dog Ranch Rescue, hoping to save around 100 dogs and transport them to Palm Beach County, Florida, for rehab and eventual adoption.


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Import the people - import the culture.