Texas Land Bill Sparks Criticism

Facts

• In the wake of Republican Texas state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst's proposed ban on certain foreign purchases of Texas real estate — introduced to the Senate in December — which includes Chinese nationals, some activists and politicians are calling the measure anti-Asian and xenophobic.¹
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott came out in support of the bill, which also prohibits citizens from Russia, Iran, and North Korea from purchasing land in the Lone Star State.²
• Senate Bill 147 would also apply to 'governmental entities' of the four prohibited countries as well as companies headquartered there or 'directly or indirectly controlled' by their governments.³
• The impetus for the bill reportedly dates back to 2020 when Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin bought thousands of acres of land in Del Rio, Texas, and announced plans to build a wind farm near a US Air Force base.⁴
• Following that acquisition, Texas banned infrastructure deals with individuals tied to what it considers hostile governments, including China. Lawmakers in various states have been keeping an eye on land bought by foreign entities, especially agricultural land.⁵
• Texas Republicans cite national security as the underlying reason behind the proposed measure, with Kolkhorst most recently calling attention to the Chinese balloon that traversed the continental US before being shot down. Meanwhile, opponents maintain that the bill is discriminatory.⁶

Sources: ¹Huffington Post, ²Daily Wire, ³Texas monthly, ⁴Texas standard, ⁵FOX News and ⁶NBC.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by San francisco chronicle. This bill is just the latest attempt by the GOP to otherize and discriminate against immigrants. Amid a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and Texas's history of discrimination against this particular demographic, state officials are now using the balloon incident to justify their proposal and bring about more hate. As America tries to move past its ugly history of bigotry, the Texas GOP has decided to bring it back to the forefront.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. American legislators have one job above all, and that is to protect the American people. The CCP and its affiliates have been infiltrating American soil and buying up hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and the US can't afford to take risks with this level of threat. Despite ill-informed arguments about 'racism' and 'xenophobia,' the aim of Texas' bill is to protect American security and agriculture from nefarious foreign entities.