PLANO, TEXAS — Republican state officials in Texas have launched investigations and lawsuits seeking to halt construction of The Meadow, a 400-acre faith-based development by the East Plano Islamic Center. The U.S. Department of Justice closed its civil rights inquiry into the project last year without filing charges.

The development, originally named EPIC City, is located north of Dallas and is designed to include more than 1,000 homes, a mosque, a faith-based K-12 school, and commercial spaces. On March 20, 2026, a group gathered outside an office on the East Plano Islamic Center complex in Plano, Texas. During the gathering, conservative activist Ashley Loudon said, "Sharia law won't be operating in this compound." Loudon also stated, "Sharia law is not compatible with Western civilization."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched multiple probes and lawsuits against The Meadow. Separately, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development opened its own civil rights inquiry into the project for possible violations of the Fair Housing Act; that investigation remains ongoing. Last fall, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law intended to prevent housing developments in Texas from using religion "as a form of segregation."

A district court ruled in favor of The Meadow developers in May, though the ruling is currently under appeal. Khalid Hamideh, a spokesperson for the Islamic Association of North Texas, said, "They never filed any kind of, like, deed restriction record saying, 'Only Muslims can live here.'" Hamideh added, "Anybody's welcome." He also stated, "They did want to build a mosque and a Muslim school. What's wrong with that? Nothing. Is it illegal? It definitely is not. And the Justice Department investigated, and they came to the same conclusion." The Texas Republican Party this month added a demand to its official platform that the "advocacy or implementation" of sharia law be declared "a seditious criminal act, worthy of criminal punishment, disqualification for public, military, and law enforcement service, denaturalization, and [deportation]."

Sameer Siddiqui, president of the East Plano Islamic Center, said, "I feel disappointed that we're listening to this rhetoric." Siddiqui stated, "Most of it is not factual." He added, "I would like them to learn about us, and about Muslim people."