Texas push to ban non-citizens from buying land prompts racism worries

A renewed push in Texas to ban Chinese and other non-citizens from purchasing property is almost across the finish line, prompting protests by opponents who claim the measure will stoke discrimination against minorities.

The legislation previously failed in 2023, but has gained new steam in the Republican-led state since President Donald Trump's return to office on a stark anti-immigration and anti-China agenda.

The Texas bill, SB 17, bans most non-citizens from countries deemed by the United States to be national security threats from purchasing any property.

That list currently includes China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, but a recent amendment allows Governor Greg Abbott -- a close Trump ally -- the freedom to add other countries.

A sponsor of the bill, State Representative Cole Hefner, claimed the push "is about securing Texas land and natural resources... (from) adversarial nations and oppressive regimes that wish to do us harm."

Hundreds of protesters on Saturday took to the streets in the capital Austin, carrying posters reading "stop the hate" and "housing is a human right."

"If you make a law targeting certain people just because of their origin, their country where they come from, that's racist. This is a racist bill," said Alice Yi, co-founder of Asian Texans for Justice.

"This is our country too," the 68-year-old added.

According to US Census data, Asians represented roughly six percent of the Texas population in 2023 -- 1.7 million people out of 31.3 million -- but were the fastest growing group in the state.

"Not everybody is a spy, not everybody here is associated with... the home country," said Eileen Huang, 42, with the Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition.

"A lot of people, they flee from the home country. Why? Because they don't agree" with the country's leadership, she added.

The top Democrat in the Texas House, Representative Gene Wu, argued that exemptions for lawful permanent residents did not go far enough.

"They've accepted green card holders and citizens, but the problem is you cannot become a green card holder or a citizen if you do not have a way to show that you can live here permanently," he told AFP.

Wu, who was born in China, said "people don't know the difference between Asian people, they just see an Asian face."

"What this will mean is across the board discrimination against all Asians."

SB 17 passed the House on Friday with several amendments, and must now be passed again in the Senate.

With mounting political and economic tensions between Washington and Beijing in recent years, similar bans targeting Chinese land ownership have popped up in multiple other states.

Texas itself passed a law in 2021 to bans companies from several nations, including China, from connecting to the power grid.

The legislation was passed to block Chinese mogul Sun Guangxin from building a large wind farm in the state.