2 States Plan on Banning Some Immigrants From Owning Property

Texas and Florida have or are floating bills to ban some immigrants and H-1B visa holders from owning property. The Texas state legislature is considering banning some immigrants from owning property. It would include H-1B visa holders from China, Iran, North Korea or Russia from buying a home or investing in a business in Texas, and Governor Greg Abbott has indicated he will sign the bill:

“A bill is filed in Texas legislature to ban citizens, governments & entities of China, Iran, North Korea & Russia from purchasing land in Texas. I will sign it. This follows a law I signed banning those countries from threatening our infrastructure.”

If passed, the Texas bill states that the “purchase of or acquisition of title to real property by certain foreign individuals or entities [would be] prohibited.”

According to immigration experts, the Texas law would apply to F-1 students and H-1B visa holders, lawful permanent residents (green card holders) and anyone from the four countries who is not a U.S. citizen. It would not apply to naturalized U.S. citizens. However, Governor Abbott said at a news conference that the legislation “doesn’t affect at all people who are citizens or intend to be citizens of the United States.” Although, as currently written, that is not clarified in the bill, nor does the bill address dual citizens.

A National Foundation for American Policy analysis of the American Community Survey says that approximately 80,000 non-U.S. citizens born in the four countries are residents of Texas.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order in September 2022 prohibiting government entities from procuring technology products and services from companies owned by, controlled by or domiciled in 7 foreign countries: China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia and Venezuela.

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