Vote restricting where Chinese in Texas can rent/buy postponed

By Randall Yip, Executive Editor

A vote has been delayed in Texas on one of the most stringent Alien Land Bills in the country as a coalition grows to oppose it.

HB17 in the Texas House of Representatives would not only restrict the purchase of property by foreign nationals from China, North Korea, Russia and Iran, it would also put limits on where they could rent.

One Democrat told opponents of the bill that supporters pulled HB17 from the agenda of the Committee of the Homeland Security less than 24 hours before a vote scheduled yesterday, April 9.

According to a Democratic legislative director, the authors plan to introduce a substitute, but it’s unclear what that substitute will be.

“I think this is a positive sign. Internally they are having a discussion, and they are not ready to vote. We think we have enough pressure on them, and they are holding back,” Steven Pei of APA Justice and founder of United Chinese Americans, said to AsAmNews.

However, Amanda Garcia, a lobbyist with the Texas American Federation of Texas is more cautious and simply says she doesn’t know what it means. She is working with the Association of American University Professors and American Federation of Teachers to oppose not only HB 17, but also SB17, the senate version of the bill that has already passed the Texas Senate.

HB17 bans not only the purchase of property but from renting within 10 miles of critical infrastructure including public and private airports, gas lines and military installations.

“Essentially (it) means you can’t live in any downtown or suburban part of a major metropolitan area. You can’t even live anywhere near some of the college campuses that are in rural areas because they have an airport nearby,” said Brian Evans, President of Texas AAUP-AFT to AsAmNews. It’s effectively banning our students, faculty and students, other working professionals in Texas who immigrated from China, Iran, North Korea or Russia.”

He is requesting that the bill be amended to remove restrictions on individuals. He is not opposed to restrictions imposed on foreign governments in the bill.

HB17 is sponsored by some 60 state legislators who all are Republican.

It is authored by State Rep Cole Hefner (R).

“#HB17 is the strongest and most constitutionally sound proposal before the #txlege to prohibit land ownership by foreign adversaries. Just as importantly, it also protects a value Texans hold sacred: private property rights. We’ve worked to strike the right balance—standing firm against foreign threats while upholding the freedoms that make Texas strong,” he wrote on X.

Recently the Texas Multicultural Advocacy Organization and United Chinese Americans sponsored a paid ad in the Houston Chronical opposing both bills.

Sergio Lira, President of the Greater Houston League of United Latin American Citizens Texas says “This is just another layer of anti-immigrant rhetoric…we firmly believe that if you target one individual, if you target one nationality you’re targeting all of us. I would like to add that this is a two-way street. Latinos are supporting Asian Americans on common issues but the Asian American community needs to support us as well.”