Latinos face their fears in a Texas neighborhood designated as a “magnet for undocumented immigrants”

In Colony Ridge, a Houston neighborhood with a large growth in the Latino population, members of this community now face the fear of going out into the streets because politicians and the media have classified the place as a settlement for undocumented immigrants and drug traffickers, in the midst of the new anti-immigrant laws Texas.

Yelva Cortés, 35 years old and a native of Michoacán (Mexico), has lived for 13 years in that wooded and rural area of ​​Liberty County, northeast of Houston, where thousands of low-income Hispanics like her have bought land and settled mobile homes in the last decade.

For a few months now, Cortés, 47, has been moving cautiously to her job as a cook and administrator at a mobile taqueria located a few minutes from her home.

“The people and my entire family here who are undocumented hardly leave; “We only do the basics.”Cortés declared in an interview with EFE about the collective fear caused by conspiracy theories that have classified that area of ​​Texas as “a magnet for undocumented immigrants” and “drug trafficker sanctuary.”

These conjectures were fueled in mid-September by a group of Republican legislators together with conservative media outlets in Texas about Colony Ridge, where some 400,000 people live, most of them Hispanic immigrants.

The hypotheses were enough for the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, to consider examining the issue in a special legislative session that culminated in incorporating funds of more than 40 million dollars to patrol that neighborhood of more than 33,000 acres (13,355 hectares) in area.

This expense is included in the anti-immigrant law SB3, enacted by the ultra-conservative Abbott a few weeks ago along with SB4, which makes it a misdemeanor for a foreigner to “enters or attempts to enter the state irregularly from a foreign nation.” The offense becomes a serious crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, if the offender is a repeat offender.

Likewise, SB4 allows for the expulsion of people without judicial process and grants the Police the authority to arrest any individual who they suspect of having entered the country illegally, also granting them the discretion to expel them to Mexico instead of arresting them.

Both laws, which should come into force at the end of February or mid-March, are already the subject of a lawsuit filed last week by the United States Department of Justice, which classifies them as “unconstitutional”.

“I’m going to live here, but I’m not going to leave. I have no other option. “I hope that these laws are annulled because we just want to get ahead without harming anyone,” Cortés said about his immediate future.

Under Scrutiny

But some, like Salvadoran Ernesto López, 35, take the news of the possible increase in patrols in the area with caution. “I only hear complaints, but thank God I have documents and I am not afraid. Furthermore, I believe that crime is everywhere.”said the construction worker.

However, López, a resident for three years of land in subdivisions that he bought “with payment facilities” faces other problems of this minority that wants to be owners. Authorities have accused a construction and financial company of offering mortgages “difficult to fulfill”

“Colony Ridge set out to exploit an immigrant’s dream of homeownership”highlights a complaint from the Department of Justice.

It details that the firm Colony Ridge Development LLC, which operates under the commercial name of Terrenos Houston, “maintains sales tactics that demand initial payments with high interest without evaluating the amortization capacity” of the buyer.

He also misrepresented data such as the guarantees of water, electricity and sewage supply, “causing borrowers to incur significant unforeseen expenses after closing”he adds.

The company acquired through public foreclosure auctions the Four. Five% of the more than 35,000 properties sold since 2012, according to an investigation by Houston Landing cited in the lawsuit.

Honduran Carolina Martínez, 28, arrived with her family in Texas two years ago. During that time she was able to acquire a lot in Colony Ridge to “have something of your own and stop paying rent.”

Although he admits that the interests are high, he says it is the best he has been able to find. Of course, he assures that he has heard about the penalties when he falls behind with the monthly payment of the mortgage and common services.

“But what worries me the most and scares me is that if they start patrolling here I won’t be able to use my car because the police will have the power to ask me for my documents, and I don’t have them.””, he pointed out.