Texas’s City For Illegal Migrants

Written by Hudson Crozier

The scoop: Colony Ridge, a housing development project in rural Texas with a population between 50,000 and 75,000 people, is suspected of being an “illegal alien settlement.” It covers over 60 square miles in Liberty County — nearly the size of Washington, D.C. — and it’s growing fast, as is the number of illegal border crossings under President Joe Biden.

Who’s behind it: Property development company Terrenos Houston offers extremely cheap deals, markets exclusively to Spanish speakers, doesn’t check the citizenship status of applicants, and has loose identification requirements. Businessmen connected with the project have donated to Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott.

Police presence is minimal: Residents live in poor conditions with little law enforcement presence, according to a journalist who has observed the area. The Liberty County Sheriff’s office says it “would take forever” to check the immigration records of people in the area when stopping them. There are also claims of a Mexican cartel presence in Colony Ridge.

• Crime: In the same county, an illegal immigrant fatally shot five of his neighbors.

Why it matters: While the property owners deny hosting a “settlement” for illegal immigrants, their actions suggest that America’s border crisis is being monetized at the expense of the rule of law. The making of entire towns catering to this sizable population not only invites more crime but contributes to a lack of cultural assimilation, both of which have caused instability in countries with huge migrant populations.