- A Federal Appellate Court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged a law passed by Texas lawmakers earlier this year that bans hostile foreign actors from owning land in Texas
- The Fifth Circuit determined that the Plaintiff, a Chinese citizen, lacked standing to bring the lawsuit
- Conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups praised the Fifth Circuit’s ruling and reiterated the need to protect Texas from hostile foreign interests
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that a Chinese citizen who filed a lawsuit seeking to strike down a new state law prohibiting hostile foreign actors from owning land in Texas lacked the standing to do so.
In August, United States District Judge Charles Eskridge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Peng Wang, a Chinese citizen who currently lives in Texas, that challenged the constitutionality of Senate Bill 17 – legislation championed by conservative state lawmakers and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott earlier this year that bans certain individuals and entities from foreign countries that have been designated as “a risk to the national security of the United States” from owning real estate in Texas.
The Fifth Circuit upheld Judge Eskridge’s dismissal of the lawsuit, finding that “SB 17 does not arguably proscribe Wang’s conduct because he has failed to allege that he is domiciled in China” and “that Wang has not alleged a substantial threat of future enforcement by the Attorney General.”
The Fifth Circuit’s opinion, written by Judge Andrew Oldham, cited statements by Wang that he has “no real plans to return to China” and the Texas Attorney General’s position that the provisions of Senate Bill 17 do not apply to Wang in determining that Wang lacked standing to bring the lawsuit.
Republican legislators who helped enact Senate Bill 17 into law praised the Fifth Circuit’s ruling and reiterated the need to protect Texas from hostile foreign interests.
“Keeping our land out of the hands of foreign enemies!
Today, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a major win for the people of Texas today. As the lead author of SB 17, I fought to ensure foreign adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea cannot buy up Texas land — and this decision keeps those protections firmly in place.
The court found that the lawsuit never even applied to the individual challenging the law. With that clarified, SB 17 stands as written, continuing to protect our farms, our homes, and the property that keeps Texas strong and secure.
Texas has every right to defend itself, and SB 17 does exactly that. I’m proud of the work we put into this law, and I’ll keep standing up for our state’s safety, sovereignty, and future,” said State Representative Cole Hefner, the House Sponsor of Senate Bill 17.
The Texas Freedom Alliance, a conservative advocacy organization, also applauded the Fifth Circuit’s decision.
In a tweet, the organization wrote, “A federal appeals court has upheld Texas’ law restricting certain foreign land purchases, ruling that the legal challenge didn’t meet the threshold to move forward. This means Texas’ protections against land acquisitions tied to hostile foreign governments remain fully intact.
SB 17 reflects a clear message: Texas takes national security seriously. The law creates guardrails around real estate purchases linked to countries flagged in federal intelligence assessments and gives the Texas Attorney General authority to enforce those protections.
Thanks to the strong leadership of Rep. [Cole Hefner], Rep. [Will Metcalf], Rep. [Jared Patterson], Rep. [John McQueeney], and Rep. [David Spiller], Texas continues to defend its land, its resources, and its strategic assets with a firm, proactive approach.
Texas is once again showing how states can lead on security and sovereignty when the stakes are high.”
The provisions of Senate Bill 17 went into effect on September 1.
