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Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate EPIC City, a real estate development near Josephine, Texas, citing personal concerns that it may violate the constitutional rights of non-Muslims.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, Cornyn alleged that the Muslim-led development may discriminate against Christian, Jewish and other non-Muslim Texans, potentially violating the Fair Housing Act.
“A master-planned ‘community of thousands of Muslims’ could violate the constitutional rights of Jewish and Christian Texans, by preventing them from living in this new community,” Cornyn wrote.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Cornyn’s call as discriminatory and baseless.
“Rather than targeting Muslim charities working to build family-centered communities, the Department of Justice should investigate Texas officials who appear to be violating the Constitution by singling out Muslims for political gain,” said Robert McCaw, director of CAIR’s government affairs department.
CAIR also sent its own letter to the DOJ, asking for a civil rights investigation into what it described as “unconstitutional targeting of Muslim communities” by Texas leaders.
The organization argues these investigations infringe on the First Amendment’s free exercise clause and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
AG involvement, political race
The situation intensified as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an expansion of his own investigation into EPIC City.
On Tuesday, Paxton requested communications between the East Plano Islamic Center and city officials in Plano, Richardson and Wylie, Texas.
“If any local official is supporting or communicating with a real estate development that is under investigation for potential violations of state law, then it’s imperative that we are made aware,” he said.
Paxton is already investigating Community Capital Partners, the for-profit developer of EPIC City and EPIC City Ranches, which was founded by former East Plano Islamic Center leaders.
The move comes amid a heated Republican primary battle for Cornyn’s Senate seat.
Paxton, who recently announced a challenge to Cornyn, has already launched attack ads questioning Cornyn’s conservative record. Cornyn, in turn, has called Paxton a “fraud,” pointing to his legal scandals and impeachment history.
EPIC City background
According to the developer’s website, EPIC City will include single-family and multifamily homes, parks, schools, businesses and a mosque.
The development, located in Collin and Hunt counties about 40 miles northeast of Dallas, sold out its first 500-lot phase and is accepting investors for the next, according to a local Fox News affiliate.
“The vision for EPIC City is simple,” CCP President Imran Chaudhary previously told county officials. “We want to build an inclusive community, one in which people of every background, faith, and culture can live together in harmony.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has also asked the Texas Rangers to investigate the mosque and associated businesses. Multiple state agencies — including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Funeral Service Commission — have sent inquiries or notices to EPIC-related entities, according to the Fox affiliate.
CAIR has called these investigations “politically motivated” and “designed to chill Muslim civic engagement.”
In February, Abbott posted on social media that “Sharia law is not allowed in Texas,” prompting further backlash.
