Texas House of Representatives approves initial bill that would ban Chinese citizens from owning property

• A bill in the Texas House would prevent people from China and other countries from buying property in the state. Additions by representatives would also give the governor the ability to add other countries to the ban without legislative approval. Opponents have called the bill racist.

Lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives have advanced a bill that, if approved by the state Senate, will prohibit citizens of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from buying real estate in the state—and would give the governor broad power to add any other nation he wants to that list.

The House added the gubernatorial powers to the bill, which had already been approved by the Senate. It now will be voted on once more by the House before it goes back to the Senate for another vote. (The upper chamber had previously approved the bill, but the amendments require a revote.) If passed by both branches, it then moves onto the governor.

Critics, including most Democratic representatives, have lambasted the bill, calling it racist. Proponents say the goal is to ensure countries deemed hostile do not gain any level of control in the state.

"We must not allow oppressive regimes who actively seek to do us harm to seize control and dictate their terms over our economy, supply chain and our daily lives," said Rep. Cole Hefner, the Republican sponsor of the bill.

Exceptions were made for non-citizens from those countries who entered the U.S. legally.

Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat who immigrated from China as a child, warned the bill could result in attacks on Asian Americans.

"Nobody around here knows the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese or Japanese or Vietnamese," he said. "When the attacks come, when the hate crimes start, it will be against Asians – everybody with [an] Asian face."

Texas' attempts to limit who can buy property in the state come on the heels of a similar bill in Florida, which was passed in 2023. That bill is currently on hold after a federal appeals court ruling.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com