Trump Admin Launches Investigation Into Texas’s Muslim-Only Community Project

Trump Admin Launches Investigation Into Texas’s Muslim-Only Community Project

The probe will look into “The Meadow” project, formally called EPIC City or the East Plano Islamic Center, for potential violations of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits direct providers of housing, such as real estate companies, from instituting discriminatory practices that make housing unavailable to people based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or family status.

The department’s investigation, conducted by its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, will cover EPIC Real Properties, Inc., and Community Capital Partners, LP, which are involved in the development program.

According to the department, it has “received a complaint from the Texas Workforce Commission detailing a large-scale pattern of religious discriminatory conduct by the developers of The Meadow.”

The project’s marketing materials promote the initiative as a “Muslim community” that will represent the “epicenter of Islam in America.” There are allegations of discriminatory financial terms in the project requiring lot owners to subsidize a mosque and Islamic educational center, the department said.

Another allegation is that the initiative employs a biased sales mechanism consisting of a two-tier lottery system for lot sales, granting exclusive access to Tier One buyers.

“It is deeply concerning the East Plano Islamic Center may have violated the Fair Housing Act and participated in religious discrimination,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said.

“As HUD Secretary, I will not stand for illegal religious or national origin discrimination in housing and will ensure that this matter receives a thorough investigation so that this community is open to all Texans.” (More)

More Politics:

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development is investigating entities involved in a planned Muslim housing development in Texas due to concerns the initiative may have engaged in discrimination based on religion and nationality.
• The Trump administration unveiled a comprehensive Maritime Action Plan on meant to resurrect the U.S. shipbuilding sector, which has dwindled since World War II and has now fallen far behind China and other global competitors.