In April, Texas Senator John Cornyn (shown right) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking the federal government to look into the proposed development known as East Plano Islamic Center, or EPIC City, for possible religious discrimination and potential violations of federal law. There are also concerns about Sharia Law.
Late last week, Cornyn said the federal investigation have started their work.
The proposed 402-acre development would include a mosque, houses, a school, and many other amenities.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently said the state has barred construction.
In February, Abbott wrote on X that Sharia Law is not allowed in Texas and that any development operating outside of Texas and U.S. law will not be tolerated.
Abbott and Texas AG Ken Paxton began their own investigation before the DOJ got involved, looking for, among other things, violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Earlier this spring, the developers of EPIC City hired a defense attorney who said his clients are victims of racial profiling.
Erin Anderson is a journalist with Texas Scorecard. She was a guest on Fox's Will Cain program.
“So far, it's just basically farmland and marketing. So, they started marketing the properties last year. And the plans are expansive, but that's all on paper right now. It's still empty farmland. They are still in the very preliminary, early stages."
Host Will Cain pointed out that Paris and London have "no-go zones" for Muslim communities.
That doesn’t sound like something Texans near EPIC City are ready to embrace.
Some community members are concerned about anti-American sentiments being fostered by such a development, Anderson said. There are also concerns that EPIC City will be exclusively for Muslims.
"And some of the initial promotions for the development did seem to suggest that it was for Muslims, it was Muslim-centric, by Muslims for Muslims. And that raised some red flags about are we running afoul of state and federal fair housing laws and such,” Anderson said.
