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AUSTIN — Allegations that a housing development north of Houston is overrun with undocumented immigrants has put the area in the national spotlight, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asking lawmakers to pass laws related to the development in this month’s special session.
Local officials from Liberty County are pushing back, saying there is no proof the Colony Ridge development is a “magnet” for undocumented immigrants, and that the allegations that the county is a high-crime area that is too risky for law enforcement are blatantly false.
“That’s baloney,” said Liberty County Judge Jay Knight, a Republican, when informed of allegations that the development is a “no-go zone” for police.
Last week, Abbott kept his word and included the development in a 30-day special session that will deal with school choice and border security. His request for lawmakers is broad and calls for legislation “concerning public safety, security, environmental quality, and property ownership” in areas like Colony Ridge.
State and national leaders who have spoken about the development largely have not reached out to local officials to find out more about the housing development or the allegations that have been reported in conservative media outlets, the officeholders said.
“It’s kind of funny that nobody wants to talk to me,” Knight said in a phone interview Wednesday. He did acknowledge that undocumented citizens probably live in the development. But when asked if the allegations are that Colony Ridge has thousands of undocumented immigrants, Knight said, “Not that I can tell.”
Rep. Ernest Bailes, R-Shepherd, pushed back on the reporting, saying the developer has followed the law and that allegations it’s a high-crime area are false. “It is not a colonia by any stretch,” Bailes said Thursday.
The area gained national attention late last month. The headline on a Sept. 16 story by the Daily Wire, a conservative outlet, said the development is a “magnet for illegal immigrants.”
“We’re taking this very serious,” Abbott told Fox News hosts Brian Kilmeade and Lawrence Jones. “The issue of Colony Ridge is going to be on that special session so we can look into it.”
When Jones asked Abbott about allegations residents there didn’t have driver’s licenses or Social Security numbers, the governor did not confirm or deny the reporting. Instead, Abbott said legislative hearings during the 30-day session would get to the bottom of the allegations.
Last week, the Texas GOP delegation in the U.S. House sent a letter to Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton calling on the state to investigate the reports. Rep. Brian Babin of Woodville was the lead author. His office did not respond to questions asking whether he has received briefings on the development or spoken with local officials.
Knight added it’s not his job to ask whether residents are here illegally since immigration enforcement is the job of the federal government. “I’m not allowed to ask that question,” Knight said. “That’s federal law.”
The developers are brothers John and Trey Harris. Attempts to reach them last week were unsuccessful.
John Harris invited state lawmakers to tour the development Thursday in a letter emailed in late September. Harris wrote in the letter there were “false media narratives” that are “being perpetuated by out-of-state media outlets, politicians, and special interest groups.”
Democratic Rep. Christina Morales of Houston was among a handful of lawmakers who toured the area. She said the allegations about the development are conspiracy theories.
“The community looks like any other community in Texas,” Morales said in a phone interview. “I saw people who look like me, and they are living in a community.”
Trey Harris told The Associated Press that he was bothered that people are accusing his customers of being drug dealers and associated with Mexican cartels.
Babin’s letter said state and local law enforcement treat the area as a “no-go zone” — an area avoided because of safety risks — due to increasing violent crime.
State data, however, tells a different story. Three police departments in Liberty County reported their crime statistics for 2022 — the most recent year available — to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The data includes violent offenses, ranging from murders to assaults.
The crime rate in Liberty County was 1,482 identified incidents per 100,000 people, according to the data. The News examined six other counties in comparison with Liberty County. Bastrop, Bowie, Hunt, Potter, Tom Green and Victoria counties each have a demographic mix and population that’s similar to Liberty County — about 100,000 residents, according to the census.
Liberty County’s crime rate was lower than all those counties. The next closest county was Hunt County, which is northeast of Dallas and has a rate of 1,696 per 100,000. Three of the counties — Bowie, Tom Green and Victoria — had a crime rate of over 2,000 per 100,000.