Texas lawmaker looks to block certain countries from owning land in state

AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas representative wants to prevent certain countries from buying land in the Lone Star State.

What we know:

Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) filed H.B. 2536 on Thursday. It would stop individuals and organizations from "designated countries" from owning property in the state. The bill lists China, Iran, North Korea and Russia as designated countries and would allow for the governor to add other countries to the list.

The bill would restrict property purchases by governmental entities, companies headquartered in designated countries or companies that are subsidiaries of companies owned in those countries.

Property owners would be investigated by the attorney general's office and could be forced to sell the property under the bill.

Sale of the property would go towards any liens on the land, then fines assessed by the government and then into the state's general fund.

Fines would equal $250,000 or 50% of the property's market value, whichever is greater.

Foreign ownership in Texas land

The latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows more than 5.6 million acres of Texas agricultural land was owned by foreign entities at the end of 2023. The number increased by more than 200,000 acres over 2022.

By the numbers:

Texas is the state with the most Chinese land investments. The country holds 123,708 acres of agricultural land in the state, which accounts for nearly half of the country's total investment.

Chinese land ownership in Texas

A vast majority of the land held by Chinese investors in Texas is in Val Verde County, where Brazos Highland Properties owns 86,994 acres and Harvest Texas, LLC owns 29,705 acres.

Chinese investors also own land in Gray and Roberts counties through Smithfield Foods and in Cameron County through Hung's Shrimp Farm.

The backstory:

Similar bills have moved through the Texas legislature in the past.

READ MORE: Texas committee suggests legislation to ban foreign land owners will return next session

In 2023, a similar bill passed the Senate, but it failed to reach the floor in the Texas House after concerns were raised it could result in acts of discrimination.

The last version of the bill to make its way to the house failed to make it out of committee.

What we don't know:

The bill was just filed on Thursday, so it remains to be seen if it will make it to a committee and then if it makes it out of committee and onto the House floor for reading.