Republican lawmakers are trying again to bar Chinese citizens, companies from buying Texas land
Republican state lawmakers are doubling down on their failed effort last session to bar certain foreign citizens and companies from owning land in Texas.
The proposals this year range from outright bans to creating a database of purchases, all aimed at stemming the influence of China and other countries seen as hostile to the U.S. Civil rights and Asian American groups denounced similar measures in 2023 as racist and xenophobic, saying that even longtime residents would be barred from purchasing homes or businesses.
Though those efforts failed, lawmakers are renewing the push, saying national security risks must be addressed. Around two dozen other GOP-led states have passed similar bans, according to the National Agricultural Law Center.
“We don’t want hostile adversaries owning land in our state,” state Rep. Cole Hefner, who chaired a select committee on foreign influence, said in an interview. “We want to deter them from buying it in the first place.”
Hefner, a Mount Pleasant Republican, has filed a bill that would ban future land sales to the governments of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, as well as companies headquartered in those countries. The proposal mirrors legislation filed last session by Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham, which triggered protests around the state, including in Houston and Katy, home to large Chinese American communities. Kolkhorst has also refiled her legislation.
Proponents have raised fear over the possibility of China and other foreign powers snapping up large swaths of U.S. land, including around military bases. It’s not the first time. After a Chinese billionaire purchased 140,000 acres near the Texas-Mexico border in 2016 as part of a proposed wind farm, lawmakers banned foreign entities from buying “critical infrastructure” like electricity installations in Texas.
Opponents of a new ban say the law is discriminatory, and that even if it weren’t, hostile governments would be able to easily get around it by recruiting other people to purchase the land on their behalf. Any ban would almost certainly be challenged in court.
“The intent is to send a clear message of, you're not welcome here. You people are not welcome here,” Wu said.
China remains among Texas’ top trading partners and a key destination for its oil and gas exports, and some Chinese investors hold stakes in Texas energy operations. In 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first term, Texas officials celebrated Chinese investments and traveled to Shanghai to discuss deepening commercial ties. But relations have cooled since, and last year Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to divest all stakes in the country.
Florida passed a similar foreign land ownership ban that was partially blocked in federal court last year, though the case remains pending. Judges signaled that the law could be preempted by federal law that already grants the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States with the power to review real-estate transactions involving foreign investors.
Hefner said his bill is designed to focus more narrowly on hostile governments, rather than individuals, though non-U.S. citizens who are living permanently in designated countries are included. His bill also gives Abbott the ability to add countries to the list.
Chinese investors own a relatively small amount of agricultural land in the state – around 124,000 acres, according to a USDA report. That’s compared to almost two million acres owned by Canadians.
Two years ago, protests prompted Kolkhorst to make major revisions to her bill, exempting dual citizens and lawful permanent residents and limiting the ban to agricultural, timber and mining land.
Democrats denounced the ban, even with those changes, saying it would still stir up unfounded distrust of immigrant communities. Kolkhorst’s bill passed the Senate along party lines but later failed in the House. Abbott said at the time that he would have signed the legislation if it had passed.
Wu noted that during World War II, land ownership laws were among the first in a series of restrictions that ultimately ended in the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans.
Asked if Democrats could support some version of a bill that more narrowly targeted national security concerns, Wu said he remained wary.
“They could reduce the amount of discrimination in the legislation, sure, but even less discrimination is still discrimination,” said Wu.