Feds Target Illegal immigrants in Houston-Area Development

By Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune

Federal immigration authorities on Monday planned to conduct a targeted operation on "criminals & illegal immigrants" in a housing development outside of Houston that’s been under scrutiny from conservative lawmakers and media for selling land to undocumented people, Gov. Greg Abbott said.

By Monday afternoon, it remained unclear whether anyone had been arrested, as nearly half a dozen law enforcement and government agencies were silent on details.

Abbott initially said in a social media post that he had worked with President Donald Trump's immigration adviser, Tom Homan, “for months” to target Colony Ridge, a majority Latino 33,000-acre development some 30 miles outside of the nation’s fourth-largest city in neighboring Liberty County. Conservative influencers, outlets, think tanks and Texas lawmakers had dubbed it as a safe haven for undocumented people, often painting it as a cartel-run crime hub.

“The operation began hours before my post. Long before my post anyone in the area would’ve known about the operation,” Abbott said, after hinting at an imminent raid for weeks in other posts. One of the developers is a major campaign donor to Abbott.

Spokespersons for Abbott referred questions about the operation to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not respond to emails seeking information. The Texas Department of Public Safety, whose troopers were assisting federal agents, referred an initial inquiry to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which did not respond to emails.

Meanwhile, a DPS sergeant suggested to the Houston Chronicle that Monday's operations were typical for state police in the area.

“We’re running a task force out here, just like we’ve been doing for two years now,” DPS Sgt. Erik Burse told the newspaper. “I guess the governor put out a tweet or something. It’s the same thing we’ve been doing.” (A top DPS spokesperson said, “Unfortunately, Sgt. Burse’s comments were not well-informed on this subject.”)

Any widespread arrests targeting residents of Colony Ridge for their immigration status would be among the most aggressive law enforcement actions to date since the development became right-wing lightning rod in 2023.

As calls for action mounted in 2023, Abbott directed the state Legislature to address the development during special sessions. But lawmakers showed little appetite to do much of anything after testimony from Liberty County officials and the developer disputed claims circulating in right-wing circles.

“Why are we even here doing this?" one state lawmaker questioned during a hearing.

But a few months later, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in with enforcement when it sued the developers in December 2023 for allegedly running a predatory lending scheme that preyed on Latino homebuyers. The Department accused the developer of luring Latino homebuyers with targeted Spanish ads and blitzing them with high-pressure sales tactics into high-interest seller-financed mortgages that many failed to pay before losing their homes, land and savings. The developer allegedly repeated the process, sometimes selling the same piece of land to a series of buyers during the four-year period reviewed by the Justice Department, according to the lawsuit.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton later sued the developers as well over similar accusations despite having received complaints from residents for years about the developer’s lending practices.

Both lawsuits remain pending in federal court.

The developers have denied any wrongdoing.

On Monday, Colony Ridge Chief Executive Officer John Harris said that DPS has been working in the development for two years and that he was grateful for the efforts from Abbott, Homan and “all those involved in rooting out criminal illegals in Texas.”

“They know who the bad guys are, so we are fully supportive of these efforts,” Harris said in a statement. “We also know that Colony Ridge remains one of the safest communities of its size anywhere in Texas, and we are proud of our residents and their desire to make this community a vibrant, happy and safe place to live.”

Sisters SuEllen and Keilah Sanchez were once Colony Ridge customers before they turned to raising awareness about the allegations against the developers. The prospect of raids in Colony Ridge was “bittersweet,” they wrote in a statement.

“While we are relieved that Gov. Greg Abbott is finally addressing the serious issues in the area, we cannot ignore the fact that many residents moved to Colony Ridge after being misled by marketing that promised them the American Dream,” the sisters said. “These individuals, many of whom are hardworking immigrants, have been living in substandard conditions, facing extreme challenges such as severe flooding, raw sewage, overcrowded schools, and the growing presence of fentanyl.”

They added: “Yet, their voices have largely been unheard. The true story of Colony Ridge is not just about policy — it’s about thousands of families trapped in a cycle of broken promises and dangerous living conditions. As attention is finally drawn to this crisis, we must ensure that the real experiences of these residents are not ignored.”

Even the suggestion of raids is likely to cause wide panic in the community.

Cesar Espinosa, the director of Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha, an immigrant-led civil rights organization in Houston, drove around the development Monday morning while streaming on Facebook live. As he drove around, a DPS trooper pulled him over for allegedly not having a front license plate even though he did, Espinosa said.

“I must not know how to do my job,” the trooper told him after seeing the plates on the vehicle, Espinosa said during a news conference. DPS did not respond to a request for comment about the incident, part of which Espinosa live-streamed.

“Who knows what else could have happened,” Espinosa said. “That’s the fear that we have in a lot of these communities.”

The governor's post also appeared to catch local government officials by surprise.

“Would’ve been nice if the government let us know,” Liberty County Judge Jay Knight told the Houston Landing. “I wasn’t informed about anything. It’s news to me.”

Disclosure: Facebook has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/24/texas-houston-colony-ridge-immigration-operation/.