Selling America One Lot at a Time: How Colony Ridge Sells Cheap Land to Illegal Immigrants and Cartels

Under the scorching East Texas sun, Colony Ridge, a sprawling 34,000-acre private development just outside Houston, is emerging as a controversial community set to house nearly 250,000 residents in the coming years. Project Veritas went undercover in Liberty County, Texas, to investigate Terrenos Houston, the real estate group driving this rapid expansion, and uncovered how it’s aggressively marketing the American dream of homeownership to illegal immigrants and foreign investors, including Chinese buyers, right in the heart of Texas.

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Posing as potential buyers, our journalists spoke with Colony Ridge salespeople like Justin Chaney, a commercial sales agent for Colony Ridge Land LLC. Chaney candidly revealed their lax approach: “I don’t check anybody’s citizenship status… I don’t mess with that,” and added, “If they financially qualify… we’re gonna sell it to ‘em.” He explained that residential buyers can secure land with just $500 down and two forms of ID - like a foreign passport.

The team then met Sandy Moreno, one of over 20 Terrenos salespeople, who reaffirmed the ability for undocumented buyers to purchase land: “We do not check that [if a buyer is undocumented],” and “They won’t ask proof – they won’t.”

When a journalist noted that undocumented individuals “still want to have a home,” Moreno replied, “That’s why we help that way,” admitting Texas residency is required but not strictly enforced. She even confirmed that bulk purchases - like 50 Mexican nationals buying homes - could be negotiated, saying, “We can arrange that.”

Moreno revealed the biggest buyer groups are from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador, with a dedicated Chinese sales agent catering to investors from China. Colony Ridge’s Instagram ads, mostly in Spanish, target this growing foreign market.

The development has also become a magnet for crime and cartels, drawing ICE raids, including one on February 24, 2025, where 118 were arrested - among them a 34-year-old MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, deported six times, caught hours after a knife murder in the subdivision.

In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice sued developers for allegedly running a predatory lending scheme targeting Latino homebuyers with Spanish ads and high-pressure tactics, trapping them in high-interest mortgages. Many lost their homes and savings, with the same land resold repeatedly over four years. LULAC, a major Latino civil rights group, is also investigating Colony Ridge, accusing it of exploiting Latinos, with one in four loans ending in foreclosure, per president Domingo Garcia.

Local law enforcement and developers believe the majority of Colony Ridge residents are undocumented Latinos. Though the owners insist their sales to foreigners are legal, serious issues cast a shadow - national security risks, exploitation of undocumented individuals, and the potential for a vast city vulnerable to foreign gangs and cartels raise urgent questions for the people of Texas.

In catchy Instagram advertisements Terrenos Houston teases: “So what are you waiting for? Come and find the land of your dreams…”

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