Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that a joint settlement with Colony Ridge had been finalized, which includes enhanced identification requirements and monetary commitments to law enforcement and infrastructure from the controversial community just outside of Houston.  

Colony Ridge is a large housing development in Liberty County that has faced widespread allegations of facilitating illegal immigration through relaxed or predatory financing practices. Republicans across Texas and the nation highlighted the issue for years, with Paxton writing in a letter to the Texas Republican Congressional Delegation in 2023 that Colony Ridge “appears to be attracting and enabling illegal alien settlement” in Texas. 

As a part of the settlement announced Tuesday, Colony Ridge will freeze the development of residential plots for three years, earmark $48 million toward infrastructure improvements and commit to $29 million for increased law enforcement, among other things. 

Tuesday’s settlement appeared to mean something different to the Texas attorney general’s office than the DOJ’s civil rights division, despite the two settling the case together.

In Paxton’s press release Tuesday, the attorney general emphasized the underlying claims that Colony Ridge provided a landing place for illegal aliens due to its relaxed financing procedures and targeted marketing to foreign nationals. 

“Under my watch, Texas will never be a sanctuary for illegals. Colony Ridge endangered American citizens by allowing illegal aliens to run rampant on its streets, in its schools, and in its community,” Paxton said. “My office will continue to bring the full force of the law against anyone who threatens the safety of our state or creates a safe harbor for illegals.”

Paxton’s release also highlighted that the $20 million committed by Colony Ridge to increase law enforcement presence in the community could additionally fund a 287(g) agreement, a program that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law. 

The Justice Department’s news release, however, only mentioned illegal immigration in passing and instead focused on the alleged predatory lending scheme that unfairly targeted Hispanic Americans. 

“Intentionally targeting vulnerable borrowers with the American dream of homeownership and then trapping them in a predatory scheme is not only wrong, it also violates our civil rights laws,” said Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general leading the DOJ’s civil rights division. “This DOJ will go after all lenders, financiers, and land developers who participate in schemes which ultimately encourage illegal immigration.”

The difference in tone between the two, at least partially, goes back to the origins of the state and federal lawsuits. 

In March 2024, Paxton sued the development for fraudulent and deceptive trade practices, including a bait-and-switch sales scheme where Colony Ridge would market properties with certain amenities and infrastructure that did not exist. At the time, the attorney general also said that Colony Ridge ran what constituted a foreclosure mill, noting that the development’s foreclosure rate was “50 times greater than the 2023 nationwide foreclosure rate.”

But Paxton was not the first to sue Colony Ridge. 

Four months earlier, in December 2023, the DOJ, under then-President Joe Biden, sued Colony Ridge under similar allegations to those that would be made in Texas’ lawsuit the following year, claiming that the development had misled buyers and targeted demographics that were high-risk for foreclosure. 

“Since at least 2016, [Colony Ridge has] lured tens of thousands of Hispanic consumers into using predatory seller financing to purchase land, promising they would ‘Longra el sueño Americano aquí!!’ (‘Achieve the American Dream here!!’),” the Biden lawsuit read. “Instead, Colony Ridge sets consumers up to fail.” 

Dhillon’s predecessor at the DOJ’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, issued a statement that hit on many of the same rhetorical notes. 

“Colony Ridge promised the American dream, but we allege that in reality, it has delivered a nightmare for thousands of hardworking Hispanic families,” Clarke said. “This lawsuit demonstrates our commitment to holding accountable those in the housing and financial industry who intentionally target and exploit homebuyers because they are Hispanic or don’t speak English well.”

Regardless of the bipartisan origins of the litigation, Texas Republicans have applauded the recent settlement. 

“In 2023, I was the first elected official to conduct an in-depth tour of Colony Ridge with law enforcement,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in response to news of the settlement Tuesday. “I thank AG [Paxton] for taking strong action in this settlement. We cannot let these cities spring up across Texas.”