Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy introduced legislation Tuesday to block foreign adversaries and state sponsors of terrorism from purchasing homes and residential property in the United States.
The bill, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller, would prohibit foreign adversaries, nationals from designated foreign countries of concern and state sponsors of terrorism from acquiring American housing. It would also require existing property holdings covered under the legislation to be sold within two years to American citizens.
Roy said the legislation is intended to prevent hostile foreign powers from gaining influence over American land and housing markets while many Americans struggle with rising housing costs.
“American homes belong to American families — not the Chinese Communist Party, foreign Islamists, or our geopolitical foes,” Roy told the Daily Caller.
“While Americans struggle to afford housing, hostile regimes are buying up our land and neighborhoods,” Roy said. “This bill slams the door on foreign adversaries owning American housing and forces them to sell what they already control. We’re putting America’s homes back in American hands.”
The proposal comes amid growing concern among congressional Republicans over foreign ownership of American land, particularly purchases linked to Chinese investors and entities associated with the Chinese Communist Party.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, foreign ownership of American land totaled nearly 46 million acres at the end of 2024, representing more than $86 billion in value.
Documents reviewed by the Daily Caller indicate that as much as 338,000 acres owned by foreign adversaries could become subject to forced divestiture under Roy’s legislation, totaling an estimated $1.1 billion in property value.
Texas — Roy’s home state — has become one of the focal points in the debate over foreign land ownership.
The USDA report found that non-Americans own more than 5.6 million acres across Texas. Under Roy’s proposal, properties in 20 Texas counties totaling roughly 124,000 acres could potentially be required to change ownership.
Roy and other Republicans have repeatedly raised alarms about Chinese-linked land purchases near military installations, critical infrastructure and growing residential developments.
One Texas development cited by the Daily Caller reportedly spans 342 acres zoned for residential and commercial use, with roughly 70% allegedly tied to Chinese Communist Party-linked investors.
Another property linked to Chinese ownership reportedly stretches across more than 123,000 acres in 15 Texas counties and is estimated to be worth approximately $900 million, according to USDA figures.
Several Republican-led states, including Florida and Texas, have already pursued or enacted laws limiting property ownership by citizens or entities connected to adversarial foreign governments.
Supporters of such measures argue they are necessary for national security, food security and economic sovereignty, especially as geopolitical tensions between the United States and China continue escalating.
Roy’s legislation additionally reflects growing Republican focus on housing affordability as broader economic concerns remain central heading into the 2026 election cycle.
The issue also intersects with the national debate over birthright citizenship, which is currently being litigated before the Supreme Court.
Critics of current birthright citizenship policy have pointed to reports over the years of Chinese nationals traveling to the United States specifically to give birth — sometimes referred to as “birth tourism” — in order to secure automatic American citizenship for their children. Federal authorities have previously investigated businesses accused of helping wealthy foreign nationals coordinate such operations, including arranging housing, medical care and travel logistics for expectant mothers entering the United States.
Others have raised the alarm over reports involving foreign nationals paying American surrogates to carry and deliver children in the United States, after which the children obtain citizenship and are then taken back to China shortly after birth.
Supporters of stricter immigration and property ownership laws argue such arrangements could create long-term loopholes allowing foreign adversaries, including those tied to the CCP, to maintain indirect or proxy influence over American land and assets.
This article originally appeared on American Liberty News. Republished with permission.
