Southwest
Texas governor announces crackdown on massive illegal immigrant community near major city
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that state authorities working with the Department of Homeland Security are conducting an immigration and law enforcement operation in Colony Ridge, a huge development known for attracting masses of illegal immigrants.
“Colony Ridge is being targeted today,” Abbott, a Republican, announced on X on Monday.
Colony Ridge, which is less than an hour’s drive from Texas’ biggest city, Houston, is a housing development that advertises in Spanish for quality land for low down payments. There are believed to be thousands of illegal immigrants living in the community, which also reportedly has significant cartel activity and very little police presence.
DEM AND GOP GOVERNORS URGE TRUMP TO ‘LET THE STATES PLAY A ROLE’ IN IMMIGRATION DECISIONS
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that “Colony Ridge is being targeted today.” (Brandon Bell/Getty Images | ICE)
The governor said Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers and special agents were cooperating with Homeland Security Investigations in an operation in Colony Ridge this morning, “targeting criminals & illegal immigrants.”
Abbott said he has been working on this operation with President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, “for months.”
In response to concerns that his post would endanger law enforcement’s operation in Colony Ridge, Abbott said the operation began hours before his post and that “long before my post anyone in the area would’ve known about the operation.”
A spokesperson for DHS, however, declined to comment on the operation, citing the need to preserve secrecy about the details of the operations and concerns for the safety of the agents involved.
ALLEGED FENTANYL-SMUGGLING IMMIGRANTS LEAD POLICE ON DANGEROUS CORNFIELD CHASE
ICE takes illegal immigrant Jorge Carvajal Castrejon, 36, into custody in Houston on Jan. 28, 2025. (ICE)
Local outlet ABC13 reported that officials at the nearby Liberty County Sheriff’s Office further confirmed that DPS and ICE operations were underway.
Another outlet called The Vindicator reported that at least one local man, Roberto Alfaro, 24, saw “undercover” agents he believed to be from ICE “forcefully” arresting a Mexican national outside his house.
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Alfaro told The Vindicator he had never seen anything like the operation underway in Colony Ridge before and that it “feels scary.” He mentioned his concern that his mother and father would be deported back to Honduras and El Salvador. He also said he and some others were “chasing” ICE so “we could go behind them and warn others.”
TRUMP FREEZES APPLICATIONS FOR BIDEN-ERA MIGRANT PROGRAMS AMID FRAUD, NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS
Tom Homan (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Trump administration has unleashed a slew of immigration enforcement actions since taking office last month, one of the most notable being a string of ICE raids in cities across the country.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, Homan announced that in Trump’s first month in the Oval Office, ICE arrested 21,000 illegal aliens.
“I’m happy with the numbers,” he said. “But I’m not going to be satisfied until every criminal alien gang member, every criminal alien, every Tren de Aragua [gang member] is eradicated from this country and [we’ve] sent their a– to Gitmo, where they belong.”
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Jurors deliberating the fate of the man accused of starting the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history, failed to reach a verdict Thursday afternoon, telling the judge they were deadlocked.
A spokesperson from the United States Attorney’s Office told KTLA that jurors will continue to deliberate until they reach a verdict or give up.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, a former Uber driver and one-time Pacific Palisades resident, is accused of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Eve. The fire continued to smolder underground for about a week, even after Los Angeles firefighters believed it had been extinguished.
Flames reignited on Jan. 7, erupting into the deadly Palisades Fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the upscale community, authorities said.
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A courtroom sketch of Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, during his initial court appearance on Oct. 23, 2025. (Bill Robles) -
The U.S. Dept. of Justice booking photo of Jonathan Rinderknecht over the Palisades Fire devastation in Malibu, California in January 2025 (AP).
Prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht deliberately set the fire, claiming he had grown increasingly resentful of wealthy residents and viewed Pacific Palisades as a symbol of that frustration.
“Their case, though circumstantial, is strong,” KTLA legal analyst Alison Triessl said. “The defense is relying on, can they (prosecutors) show beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rinderknecht actually started this fire and it wasn’t the result of fireworks or some intervening cause.”
The defense argued there is no direct physical evidence tying Rinderknecht to the fire and said the prosecution’s case relies entirely on circumstantial evidence. Rinderknecht did not testify during the trial.
Defense attorney Steve Haney spoke outside the courthouse Wednesday about why he believes it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove how the fire started.
“The lack of scene preservation. The fact that they got there after a lot of the evidence was missing. Not a lot of direct evidence. This is a circumstantial case, which is always difficult as a prosecutor to prove,” Haney said.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested and indicted last October, faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of three arson counts, including destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
Tony Kurzweil contributed to this report
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