Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, February 11, 2026.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Colony Ridge Must Verify Buyers’ Legal Status In Settlement with DOJ and Texas

• A sweeping settlement between the State of Texas, the federal government, and Colony Ridge will require buyers in the controversial Liberty County development to present Texas-issued identification or valid immigration documents. As Brandon Walten reports, this order effectively shuts down future direct land sales to individuals illegally in the United States.
      
• In addition to requiring that Colony Ridge only sell to individuals with certain forms of valid identification, the developers will be required to confirm that buyers are not on terrorism watch lists or affiliated with transnational criminal organizations. The developers must also foot the bill for an increased law enforcement presence in the area.
       
• The order also halts Colony Ridge’s business model that fueled its explosive growth. For the next three years, the developer is barred from seeking approval for new residential plats intended for direct-to-consumer land sales.
     
• While the settlement resolves the civil enforcement actions, it explicitly preserves the ability of state and federal authorities to pursue criminal charges in the future.

Kaufman County Development Investigated Over ‘Sharia City’ Concerns

• An investigation has been launched into what has been described as a potentially unlawful “sharia city” development in Kaufman County. This marks the latest escalation in the state’s scrutiny of large-scale developments alleged to operate outside Texas law.
       
• Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office is seeking documents from the firms leading the project, including Kaufman Solar LLC and the U.S. subsidiary of the Dubai-based development firm SEE Holding.
       
• The project's backers have described it as a “sustainable city,” but critics are raising concerns that the development could facilitate the relocation of as many as 20,000 foreign nationals and function as a religiously governed enclave. The Office of the Attorney General is looking into whether the project violates Texas law and undermines state sovereignty.
       
• "There will be no ‘sharia city’ in Texas under my watch." – Ken Paxton

Texas Anti-ESG Law Blocked by Federal Judge

• A federal judge has blocked Texas from enforcing a 2021 law that bars state funds from investing in companies that “boycott” the fossil fuel industry. Travis Morgan explains the ruling.
    
• The law was explicitly designed to prevent state-controlled investment funds and public entities from supporting companies that discriminate against oil, natural gas, and coal producers. It required the comptroller to maintain a blacklist of companies engaged in such boycotts—triggering divestment by state funds if those companies fail to cease boycotting within 90 days.
      
• The American Sustainable Business Council—a membership group that advocates against reliance on fossil fuels—filed a federal lawsuit in 2024. Last week, U.S. District Judge Alan Albright declared the law unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
      
• The state has already filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

TEA Targets ‘Unworthy’ Lorena ISD Principal’s Certification

• A principal in the Lorena Independent School District facing a federal lawsuit for failing to protect pre-K students from a teacher’s sexual abuse may also have her Texas educator certification revoked for being “unworthy” to supervise children. Erin Anderson updates a case Texas Scorecard has been tracking.
   
• The Texas Education Agency submitted a petition to the State Office of Administrative Hearings asserting that Lorena Primary School Principal April Jewell’s conduct surrounding the sex abuse scandal “indicates that she is a person unworthy to instruct or supervise the youth of this state.”
      
• Jewell is a defendant in a civil suit, along with the Lorena Independent School District, brought in 2023 by parents of a then-5-year-old girl who was molested for months in her classroom by a long-term substitute teacher, Nicolas Crenshaw. 
       
• Parents and staff allege Jewell turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse. District officials, in turn, have stood behind Jewell.  

Police Chief Resigns Following Months-Long Investigation

• Humble city officials confirmed this week that Police Chief Dan Zientek has resigned. Michael Wilson reports that the departure comes after nearly two months on unpaid administrative leave while undergoing an independent investigation into his conduct.
      
• Zientek had served with the Humble Police Department since June 2022 and was promoted to chief in June 2025. His tenure as chief lasted just over seven months.
     
• Among other things, it appears Zientek ran a for-profit company offering training courses for other police departments that used Humble city facilities without permission. It appears taxpayers were charged $40,000 in travel and training expenses for his wife, who is a captain in the Humble Police Department.

Texas Congressman Blasts Anti-ICE Movement

• At a Tuesday hearing of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, Sydnie Henry reports that Republican U.S. Rep. August Pfluger drew a sharp line between enforcing existing immigration law and organized efforts to nullify it on the streets—and in city halls.
     
• According to Pfluger, a “conservative estimate” is that 10 to 12 million people entered illegally during the Biden administration.
      
• ICE Director Todd Lyons told Pfluger and the committee that his agency has seen an “8,000 percent increase on death threats.”
   
• “It seems like one side of the aisle is in favor of open borders and wants to abolish ICE … and the other side of the aisle wants to enforce the laws that are on the books.”​ — August Pfluger

Yes, Texas Scorecard Needs You!

At Texas Scorecard, we don’t take government grants or corporate sponsorships, and we don’t put our content behind a paywall. Quite simply, we exist only because of the generous support of our readers and listeners. You stop giving, we stop existing.

So, will you make a quick, tax-deductible contribution to support the mission and work of Texas Scorecard? Your support literally makes Texas Scorecard possible!

Quote-Unquote

"Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings."

– Ludwig von Mises​

Directory of Your Current U.S. & Texas Lawmakers

This information is automatically inserted based on the mailing address you provide to us. If you'd like to update your contact information, please visit our subscriber portal.