September 21, 2023 • 11 mins
In this episode, Lisa welcomes reporter Spencer Lindquist to discuss the controversial land development known as Colony Ridge near Houston, Texas. Lindquist provides details about the massive development, which has become a haven for illegal immigrants and potentially a hub for cartel activity. He explains that Colony Ridge covers an area larger than Manhattan and has a population estimated between 40,000 to 75,000 people, with potential growth to accommodate up to 200,000 people. Lindquist raises concerns about the marketing tactics used by Colony Ridge and highlights the political connections of the developer, William Trey Harris. The Truth with Lisa Boothe is part of the iHeartRadio Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday & Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We want to share a good friends podcast with you
this week, Enjoy the Truth with Lisa Booth in the
Clay and Back podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What if I told you that there is a sanctuary
city on steroids just north of Houston, Texas. It's four
hundred miles from the border, yet there could be up
to seventy five thousand people living there, mostly illegal immigrants
or potentially all illegal immigrants. That's the target market. It's
being called a hub for cartel activity. And it's about
sixty square miles, which is the same size as Washington, DC.
(00:30):
And what if I told you it might be legal
for this to be happening. We're going to bring you
the story with Spencer Linquist, who broke this story for
The Daily Wire. We're going to get the scoop, the
inside story in The Truth.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Spencer, I assume you've been busy this week breaking this
big story about Colony Ridge.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Let's start with what is Colony Ridge?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, that's right, it certainly has been a busy week.
We've got this Colney Ridge story had just dropped recently
at the start of this week, and it's all about
this massive, this massive land development. It is located about
forty miles northeast of Houston and itself Colney Ridge. It
covers roughly sixty square miles of land. That's larger than Manhattan.
(01:19):
It's about the size of Washington, DC. And what's interesting
about this development is that the way that the financing works,
it's actually made it a bit of a magnet for
illegal immigrants. So right now we're trying to estimate the
population of Colney Ridge, and it's difficult to get an
exact number, but figures say that it's somewhere between the
forty to fifty maybe the seventy five thousand range, and
(01:41):
it appears to be rapidly growing and preparing to preparing
to accommodate maybe even two hundred thousand people. So very
interesting development, and it seemed to be a pocketable leegal
immigrants right under the nose of the fourth largest city
in the United States. Is that legal, Well, that's the
million dollar question. From what we can tell, a lot
(02:03):
of it is legal. The way that the financing works,
they use the itin. It's the individual taxpayer identification number,
and the IT in. It is legal to use the
it in for financing, and this is a direct buyer
to seller transaction. The interest rates tend to hover in
the twelve thirteen, fourteen percent range, So there's a little
(02:24):
incentive to buy here unless you specifically want to own
in this area, unless you specifically want to use the
it in. So it is not technically on a land
developer or on some of you selling property to check
immigration status. But by using that type of financing method,
you are naturally attracting a certain consumer demographic. And perhaps
(02:47):
even more concerning than that, we know that the marketing
materials is actually really difficult. I haven't found any marketing
materials that are in English, and some of their posts
on Instagram even say own land in the United States.
They encourage people to reach out via WhatsApp, and that's
a platform that is specifically intended for international communications. And
(03:08):
according to their LinkedIn, they actually have a significant number
of employees who don't even live in the United States,
but who actually live in Latin America.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It seems like they're specifically trying to target those living
in America legally.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Absolutely, that's what it appears to be the case, that
they are targeting people who are specifically here illegally. I
spoke with Todd Bensman he's over at these Center for
Immigration Studies, and he was saying that the reason why
people would buy in this area and again to contend
with a fourteen or fifteen percent interest rate, is only
if you weren't able to get one of these traditional mortgages.
(03:42):
He said, it's actually the reason why people buy there
is to evade the law. This is a again, it's
absolutely massive. I drove through it, spent a day driving
through it and actually flying around it in a helicopter,
and it is huge. It's six different subdivisions and the
largest one is about thirty four thousand acres. So they're
(04:03):
building their own city. And is one of the foremost
concerns that national security experts that I've spoken to have
about it is that it's potentially an area that cartels
could be using for safe houses for drug and human
smuggling operations. And again, this is something that is four
hundred miles north of the border and just in the
backyard of America's largest, fourth largest city.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Do we know if cartels are currently operating from there.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, it's difficult to discern that. We know that there
has been cartel activity in Liberty County. There has been
a number of crimes in and around Colony Ridge, which
is again located in Liberty County. There is recently a
sixteen year old girl who was found dead from a
gunshot wound and she was in a ditch inside Colony Ridge.
There is also the remains of a mother of five
(04:50):
were also found in Colony Ridge and she was allegedly
killed by a woman whose husband was said to be
a high ranking cartel member, and she practiced San Tario,
which is this odd folk religion that's really taken root
among a lot of the cartels where they worship the
saint of Death. So we have seen some recent very
(05:10):
disturbing crimes. And we also know that law enforcement has
spoken with Todd Bensman over the Center for Immigration Studies
and told him that the Sinaloa and the Gulf cartels
were early investors in the project. So there are a
lot of national security concerns relating to the cartels, and
it's certainly possible that this is giving them a bit
of a lily pad to be able to smuggle people
(05:31):
and drugs throughout the rest of the United States.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Who is William Trey Harris, the developer behind it? What
do we know about him?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
William Trey Harris is so he is the developer of
the big developer behind Colony Rage, and he's a very
interesting figure. He's given extensively to various different Republican politicians,
including Governor Greg Abbott. He's given one point four million
dollars to Greg Abbott. His wife, Celeste Harris, also gave
(05:59):
one hundred thousand dollars to Governor Abbit. So we know
that they've donated to the governor, but it goes a
bit deeper than that as well. They've also given money
to Morgan Latrell, who's a Congressman in the area, as
well as a couple of state representatives, including Representative Ernest
Bails and Representative Briscokine. So we know that he's rather
(06:21):
deeply embedded with with some of the figures in the area,
which of course many people find to be concerning given
what's going on at Colony Ridge.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Have we heard from Governor Abbot or any other Republican
politicians in Texas about Colony Ridge.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Well, We've reached out to Governor Rabbit's office and he
did say that he has deployed DPS Texas DPS into
the area into Liberty County. He didn't specifically say that
was for Colony Ridge, but he did say that he
had deployed DPS into the area. But we did ask
his campaign whether or not, you know, we asked them
(06:56):
about their donations, and we have not yet heard that
from the campaign on that note. So this is obviously
an ongoing story. So we will certainly be reaching out
to add another other figures for follow up stories as well.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
And I was reading on your article where it's already
more than sixty square miles, which is, for a point
of reference, bigger than some southern cities like Fayetteville, Arkansas,
or Asheville, North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That's right, it's absolutely massive, and it's also growing right now.
We saw that when we flew around in the helicopter.
We were kind of on the outskirts of it, and
at various different parts our footage captured, there's area, there's
land being clearcut, there's earthwork and construction vehicles that are
there on the outskirts, so they are making way. They're
(07:47):
making way for new land for new homes, and really
it is surrounded by floodplain and forest, so it's not
really like they have any cities that they're going to
butt up against you if they want to develop there,
and of course if this is being driven by illegal immigration.
We know that right now the numbers are nearing record
highs and there would be plenty of demand currently.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Do we know if they're already at efforts within the
state to try to stop this, to try to shut
it down.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well, we spoke with Representative Brian Babin. He represents the
district that includes Colony Ridge, and he is very concerned
about what's going on. He said that action needs to
be taken, that he will pursue whatever federal avenues he
can for action. And we also spoke with a Representative
Chip Roy. He is actively looking into the development, I
(08:38):
believe recently has read some reports on it and is
looking into what can be done. Just the other day,
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick he also said that he's going
to be pushing Governor Abbott to address Colony Ridge in
a special session for the legislature. So there are several
people who do seem to want to take action on
(08:59):
Colony and are very concerned with potential cartel activity and
for its potential for facilitating mass illegal immigration.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Do we know what can be done?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Well, that's interesting, So there's a number of things right now.
I mean, I spoke with Bensman from the Center for
Immigration Studies, and he said that the first thing to
do is that we need public awareness of it. This
is something that despite its massive size and scale and
its large population, a lot of the American people haven't
been aware of, even though this has been ongoing for
a number of years. So the first step really is
(09:30):
that public awareness. Then Bensman was calling on Congress to
launch an investigation into Colony Ridge. So I think the
first step, of course is this awareness, and then lawmakers
are taking note, and of course they may be pursuing
certain avenues.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Do we know if there are any other places around
the country that look like Colony Ridge? Is this being
replicated anywhere or did they copy someone else or another state?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
As far as we know, this is the largest development
of its type, But this is a question that that
is ongoing. Of course, because of the nature of these developments,
it is hard to ascertain exactly how many there are,
whether or not this business model has been replicated elsewhere.
Brian Babin, the representative representative Babin from Texas, he did
(10:15):
note that that is a concern of his that this
is a profitable economic niche and for that reason, it
could be replicated in other areas in Texas and potentially
other places throughout the country.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I mean there's already enough incentives like an open border
to come to the United States.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
You know, we don't need any more.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Spencer, is there anything we've missed in this conversation that
you'd like the audience to know that's important.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
I think something that's really important to note about Colony
Ridge is that it's this very interesting story that I
think has taken a lot of people by surprise. It
is rapidly growing, It's getting larger, and right now I
think we're hitting a point where various different politicians are
becoming aware of Colony Ridge, and I think it'll be
very interesting to watch how representatives, how leaders approach this
(11:04):
subject moving forwards.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I do too, And you did this report for the
Daily Wire. Where can people go and find your work?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
You can find my work on the Daily Wire website
as well as on Twitter. My name is Spencer Lindquist,
and we're looking forward to continuing to report on Calling Ridge.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Spencer, great job, I really appreciate you bringing the story
to my audience.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Great Thank you. Very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
That was Spencer Linquist with the Daily Wire. Appreciate him
bringing that report to the show. Appreciate you guys at
home for listening every Monday Thursday, but you can listen
throughout the week. Want to think John Castio for putting
the show together. Until next time.
We want to share a good friends podcast with you
this week, Enjoy the Truth with Lisa Booth in the
Clay and Back podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What if I told you that there is a sanctuary
city on steroids just north of Houston, Texas. It's four
hundred miles from the border, yet there could be up
to seventy five thousand people living there, mostly illegal immigrants
or potentially all illegal immigrants. That's the target market. It's
being called a hub for cartel activity. And it's about
sixty square miles, which is the same size as Washington, DC.
(00:30):
And what if I told you it might be legal
for this to be happening. We're going to bring you
the story with Spencer Linquist, who broke this story for
The Daily Wire. We're going to get the scoop, the
inside story in The Truth.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Spencer, I assume you've been busy this week breaking this
big story about Colony Ridge.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Let's start with what is Colony Ridge?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, that's right, it certainly has been a busy week.
We've got this Colney Ridge story had just dropped recently
at the start of this week, and it's all about
this massive, this massive land development. It is located about
forty miles northeast of Houston and itself Colney Ridge. It
covers roughly sixty square miles of land. That's larger than Manhattan.
(01:19):
It's about the size of Washington, DC. And what's interesting
about this development is that the way that the financing works,
it's actually made it a bit of a magnet for
illegal immigrants. So right now we're trying to estimate the
population of Colney Ridge, and it's difficult to get an
exact number, but figures say that it's somewhere between the
forty to fifty maybe the seventy five thousand range, and
(01:41):
it appears to be rapidly growing and preparing to preparing
to accommodate maybe even two hundred thousand people. So very
interesting development, and it seemed to be a pocketable leegal
immigrants right under the nose of the fourth largest city
in the United States. Is that legal, Well, that's the
million dollar question. From what we can tell, a lot
(02:03):
of it is legal. The way that the financing works,
they use the itin. It's the individual taxpayer identification number,
and the IT in. It is legal to use the
it in for financing, and this is a direct buyer
to seller transaction. The interest rates tend to hover in
the twelve thirteen, fourteen percent range, So there's a little
(02:24):
incentive to buy here unless you specifically want to own
in this area, unless you specifically want to use the
it in. So it is not technically on a land
developer or on some of you selling property to check
immigration status. But by using that type of financing method,
you are naturally attracting a certain consumer demographic. And perhaps
(02:47):
even more concerning than that, we know that the marketing
materials is actually really difficult. I haven't found any marketing
materials that are in English, and some of their posts
on Instagram even say own land in the United States.
They encourage people to reach out via WhatsApp, and that's
a platform that is specifically intended for international communications. And
(03:08):
according to their LinkedIn, they actually have a significant number
of employees who don't even live in the United States,
but who actually live in Latin America.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It seems like they're specifically trying to target those living
in America legally.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Absolutely, that's what it appears to be the case, that
they are targeting people who are specifically here illegally. I
spoke with Todd Bensman he's over at these Center for
Immigration Studies, and he was saying that the reason why
people would buy in this area and again to contend
with a fourteen or fifteen percent interest rate, is only
if you weren't able to get one of these traditional mortgages.
(03:42):
He said, it's actually the reason why people buy there
is to evade the law. This is a again, it's
absolutely massive. I drove through it, spent a day driving
through it and actually flying around it in a helicopter,
and it is huge. It's six different subdivisions and the
largest one is about thirty four thousand acres. So they're
(04:03):
building their own city. And is one of the foremost
concerns that national security experts that I've spoken to have
about it is that it's potentially an area that cartels
could be using for safe houses for drug and human
smuggling operations. And again, this is something that is four
hundred miles north of the border and just in the
backyard of America's largest, fourth largest city.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Do we know if cartels are currently operating from there.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, it's difficult to discern that. We know that there
has been cartel activity in Liberty County. There has been
a number of crimes in and around Colony Ridge, which
is again located in Liberty County. There is recently a
sixteen year old girl who was found dead from a
gunshot wound and she was in a ditch inside Colony Ridge.
There is also the remains of a mother of five
(04:50):
were also found in Colony Ridge and she was allegedly
killed by a woman whose husband was said to be
a high ranking cartel member, and she practiced San Tario,
which is this odd folk religion that's really taken root
among a lot of the cartels where they worship the
saint of Death. So we have seen some recent very
(05:10):
disturbing crimes. And we also know that law enforcement has
spoken with Todd Bensman over the Center for Immigration Studies
and told him that the Sinaloa and the Gulf cartels
were early investors in the project. So there are a
lot of national security concerns relating to the cartels, and
it's certainly possible that this is giving them a bit
of a lily pad to be able to smuggle people
(05:31):
and drugs throughout the rest of the United States.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Who is William Trey Harris, the developer behind it? What
do we know about him?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
William Trey Harris is so he is the developer of
the big developer behind Colony Rage, and he's a very
interesting figure. He's given extensively to various different Republican politicians,
including Governor Greg Abbott. He's given one point four million
dollars to Greg Abbott. His wife, Celeste Harris, also gave
(05:59):
one hundred thousand dollars to Governor Abbit. So we know
that they've donated to the governor, but it goes a
bit deeper than that as well. They've also given money
to Morgan Latrell, who's a Congressman in the area, as
well as a couple of state representatives, including Representative Ernest
Bails and Representative Briscokine. So we know that he's rather
(06:21):
deeply embedded with with some of the figures in the area,
which of course many people find to be concerning given
what's going on at Colony Ridge.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Have we heard from Governor Abbot or any other Republican
politicians in Texas about Colony Ridge.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Well, We've reached out to Governor Rabbit's office and he
did say that he has deployed DPS Texas DPS into
the area into Liberty County. He didn't specifically say that
was for Colony Ridge, but he did say that he
had deployed DPS into the area. But we did ask
his campaign whether or not, you know, we asked them
(06:56):
about their donations, and we have not yet heard that
from the campaign on that note. So this is obviously
an ongoing story. So we will certainly be reaching out
to add another other figures for follow up stories as well.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
And I was reading on your article where it's already
more than sixty square miles, which is, for a point
of reference, bigger than some southern cities like Fayetteville, Arkansas,
or Asheville, North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That's right, it's absolutely massive, and it's also growing right now.
We saw that when we flew around in the helicopter.
We were kind of on the outskirts of it, and
at various different parts our footage captured, there's area, there's
land being clearcut, there's earthwork and construction vehicles that are
there on the outskirts, so they are making way. They're
(07:47):
making way for new land for new homes, and really
it is surrounded by floodplain and forest, so it's not
really like they have any cities that they're going to
butt up against you if they want to develop there,
and of course if this is being driven by illegal immigration.
We know that right now the numbers are nearing record
highs and there would be plenty of demand currently.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Do we know if they're already at efforts within the
state to try to stop this, to try to shut
it down.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well, we spoke with Representative Brian Babin. He represents the
district that includes Colony Ridge, and he is very concerned
about what's going on. He said that action needs to
be taken, that he will pursue whatever federal avenues he
can for action. And we also spoke with a Representative
Chip Roy. He is actively looking into the development, I
(08:38):
believe recently has read some reports on it and is
looking into what can be done. Just the other day,
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick he also said that he's going
to be pushing Governor Abbott to address Colony Ridge in
a special session for the legislature. So there are several
people who do seem to want to take action on
(08:59):
Colony and are very concerned with potential cartel activity and
for its potential for facilitating mass illegal immigration.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Do we know what can be done?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Well, that's interesting, So there's a number of things right now.
I mean, I spoke with Bensman from the Center for
Immigration Studies, and he said that the first thing to
do is that we need public awareness of it. This
is something that despite its massive size and scale and
its large population, a lot of the American people haven't
been aware of, even though this has been ongoing for
a number of years. So the first step really is
(09:30):
that public awareness. Then Bensman was calling on Congress to
launch an investigation into Colony Ridge. So I think the
first step, of course is this awareness, and then lawmakers
are taking note, and of course they may be pursuing
certain avenues.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Do we know if there are any other places around
the country that look like Colony Ridge? Is this being
replicated anywhere or did they copy someone else or another state?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
As far as we know, this is the largest development
of its type, But this is a question that that
is ongoing. Of course, because of the nature of these developments,
it is hard to ascertain exactly how many there are,
whether or not this business model has been replicated elsewhere.
Brian Babin, the representative representative Babin from Texas, he did
(10:15):
note that that is a concern of his that this
is a profitable economic niche and for that reason, it
could be replicated in other areas in Texas and potentially
other places throughout the country.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I mean there's already enough incentives like an open border
to come to the United States.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
You know, we don't need any more.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Spencer, is there anything we've missed in this conversation that
you'd like the audience to know that's important.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
I think something that's really important to note about Colony
Ridge is that it's this very interesting story that I
think has taken a lot of people by surprise. It
is rapidly growing, It's getting larger, and right now I
think we're hitting a point where various different politicians are
becoming aware of Colony Ridge, and I think it'll be
very interesting to watch how representatives, how leaders approach this
(11:04):
subject moving forwards.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I do too, And you did this report for the
Daily Wire. Where can people go and find your work?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
You can find my work on the Daily Wire website
as well as on Twitter. My name is Spencer Lindquist,
and we're looking forward to continuing to report on Calling Ridge.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Spencer, great job, I really appreciate you bringing the story
to my audience.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Great Thank you. Very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
That was Spencer Linquist with the Daily Wire. Appreciate him
bringing that report to the show. Appreciate you guys at
home for listening every Monday Thursday, but you can listen
throughout the week. Want to think John Castio for putting
the show together. Until next time.
Host
Lisa Boothe
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