Multiple bills have been filed in the current Texas legislative session seeking to regulate some people from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia and their purchasing property in the state. Similar bills have been filed in at least 15 other states and Washington, D.C.
Lawmakers who have authored some of the bills have said the legislation is intended to protect the state from governments that are considered a threat to the U.S. by the federal government. Those who oppose the bills say they are rooted in xenophobia.
Concerns over Chinese ownership of land in Texas spiked after lawmakers discovered that a Chinese subsidiary purchased about 140,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base in Val Verde County.
