The largest illegal alien “colonia” in the United States is not located in the Rio Grande Valley or outside of El Paso. In fact, it is hundreds of miles from the border, in an area controlled by Republican politicians and funded by a mega donor to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Just north of Houston, in a corridor east of I-69 and north of the Grand Parkway, lies the massive Colony Ridge development. Divided into several neighborhoods, it contains over 75,000 residents – nearly all illegal aliens – and is currently undergoing a significant expansion, clear-cutting nearby forested land.
This development has been specifically marketed to illegal aliens using the trade name “Houston Terrenos,” utilizing loans that do not require proof of citizenship and allowing for third-world living conditions within the development. It consists of a mix of modest single-family homes, mobile homes, and even hastily constructed shacks.
In addition to rampant crime that often goes unreported due to the immigration status of its residents, this development has had years of deleterious effects on the nearby city of Plum Grove, waterways, and local school districts.
The change in the texture of life for long-time residents of Plum Grove and nearby parts of Liberty, San Jacinto, and Montgomery Counties has been obvious and overwhelming. Crime has exploded, recently bringing it into the national spotlight with the murder of a family of five Honduran nationals in April by an illegal alien who was previously deported to Mexico at least four times. The Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels have also had a foothold in Colony Ridge from the beginning, using the cover of the pervasive lawlessness to stage lucrative human and drug smuggling operations that expand well into American communities.
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Aside from the public safety threat, the development has had a significant environmental impact, resulting in over 40,000 gallons of wastewater and sewage contaminating nearby bayous and drainage ditches, according to a 2020 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Investigation Report. This inadequate drainage offset has resulted in common instances of flooding and property damage during heavy rains. The local fire department has also been inundated with calls to the development due to sub-standard construction. Additionally, the lack of access roads to the community has resulted in gridlock traffic during the afternoon rush hour that would normally be found only in major urban centers.
The nearby Cleveland Independent School District (CISD) has seen an incredible transformative burden because of the influx of illegal aliens into Colony Ridge, reporting from journalist Todd Bensman shows. In just a decade, enrollment in CISD has nearly tripled from 3,693 students to 10,851. Demographic data available from Texas Academic Performance Reports indicate that in the 2011-2012 academic year students were 40.2 percent Hispanic, 45.1 percent white, and 11.6 percent black. A decade later, the school district is 85.3 percent Hispanic, and this majority is set to grow with the expansion of Colony Ridge.
Residents of Plum Grove have been fighting back, but unfortunately, their efforts have been largely unsuccessful at stopping the development’s expansion and ongoing issues. In response driven by greed, Colony Ridge developer Trey Harris has filed multiple lawsuits against the city and its former mayor, Leann Walker, most recently in 2021.
Harris and his family have donated $900,000 to Governor Abbott since 2021, and his political connections to Republican politicians in the area raise significant questions about his use of money to cover for the rampant malfeasance in Colony Ridge.
Unsurprisingly, the area’s lawmakers in the Texas Legislature are also involved. Republican State Rep. Ernest Bailes IV and Republican State Senator Robert Nichols sponsored H.B. 4341 in 2017, creating the Liberty County Municipal Management District No. 1, which lists Trey Harris as the current President.
The Liberty County Judge, Jay Knight, is a Republican and was opposed in the 2022 Republican Primary election by former Plum Grove Mayor Lee Ann Penton-Walker, who was at the forefront of local opposition to the Colony Ridge development and was named as a co-defendant in Colony Ridge’s 2021 lawsuit against the city. All of these officials have been in office for years but have done nothing to stop the development from marketing to illegal aliens or addressed the concerns of legacy residents of Plum Grove.
The story of Plum Grove and Colony Ridge is perhaps the most glaring recent example of Republicans talking tough on illegal immigration on the campaign trail, but finding themselves on the take from Big Business interests who are actively facilitating the invasion at our southern border. Over the coming weeks and months, Texans for Strong Borders – the group I lead – will continue to investigate and place scrutiny on those responsible for the debacle in Colony Ridge.
The expansion of this development and the creation of similar communities must be stopped. Lawmakers at federal, state, and local levels – regardless of location or party – must take note of what is happening here in Texas, and likely on the way to communities across America with little media coverage.
Chris Russo is president of Texans for Strong Borders.
Editor's Note: This column has been updated to include additional source information.
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