Austin Bureau Correspondent
AUSTIN – The Texas Senate gave initial passage to a bill Wednesday that would ban residents of and organizations based in China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from owning property in Texas.
The bill’s passage comes as many Asian community groups have decried the proposal from Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, as discriminatory. The bill now heads to the House, where a similar proposal has also been filed.
The nations targeted in the ban are derived from annual threat assessment reports by the Director of National Intelligence. China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are the only countries listed as hostile nations in the most recent federal threat assessment reports.
This is the second time Kolkhorst has proposed a property ban linked to hostile nations. Her previous attempt in 2023 passed the Senate but never came up for a vote in the House. A key change in the bill from Kolkhorst’s previous bill is that it would not ban citizens of those countries from owning property in Texas as long as their primary home is not in a banned country.
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“We’ve had some that say that has weakened the bill. Not at all,” Kolkhorst said prior to the vote. “I think that it has made it stronger and constitutional, more constitutional.”
With a larger and more conservative majority in the House, Kolkhorst’s bill is seen as having a greater chance of becoming law this year. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the proposal a priority bill this session designated by a low bill number – Senate Bill 17.
The bill passed 24-7, with four Democrats, including Dallas Sen. Royce West, joining Republicans in favor of the bill. It will require another vote before it heads to the House, though the margins rarely change.
No senators spoke against the bill, but Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said that it could have unintended consequences of putting the state between the private property rights of those involved in a land sale. Perry voted for the bill.
The bill bans people who are “domiciled” in banned countries from buying property in Texas, using a legal term that generally refers to the place a person considers their principal home. Organizations and companies based or controlled by banned countries similarly cannot buy property in the state.
At a committee hearing in early March, Matt Wen, a McKinney banker from China, said that changing the bill to exclude people domiciled in banned countries could still create barriers to property ownership.
“You can argue that, well me, a person like me, could be not considered as a domiciled American,” Wen said. “Well, if you ask me, I spent more days in Turkey last year than I spent in China. I actually didn’t go back to China at all last year.”
Dual citizens and permanent legal residents from banned countries are allowed to own property in Texas under the bill. People of any immigration status can own a home as long as it is listed as their permanent homestead.
The attorney general’s office would enforce the ban. A seller would not be penalized if found in violation. A district court would appoint a conservator who would work to find a new buyer for the property. However, the buyer from a banned country could lose out on money if the new buyer pays less than what their purchase price was.
Flower Mound resident Zhengang Cheng said the bill alienates the state’s Chinese communities.
“By attempting to strip us of our equal rights in housing, investment, education, immigration and employment, you perpetuate a narrative that casts every Chinese individual as a potential adversary,” Cheng said.
Philip Jankowski has covered government, politics and criminal justice in Texas for 17 years. He previously worked for the Austin American-Statesman, the Killeen Daily Herald and the Taylor Press. Philip is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
