Georgia House is considering bills to restrict land ownership for …

Senate Bill 132 made it past Crossover Day. Immigrant advocates say invoking national security concerns to stigmatize immigrants is part of a dangerous trend.

Update March 31, 2023: Senate Bill 132 did not go to the House for a vote in time for Sine Die. It will be re-examined next year for the second half of the 2023-2024 legislature.

A bill that would ban certain immigrants from countries the US considers "foreign adversaries" from buying agricultural land or land near a military facility in Georgia passed the Senate last week and is now under consideration in the House of Representatives. A similar bill, HB 452, died in the House of Representatives last week, and pro-immigrant advocates are hoping the Senate bill will do the same before the March 29 legislative session ends. They warn that part of a dangerous trend at the national level is to limit land ownership on the basis of national ancestry -- in the name of national security.

At least ten other states and the US Congress have introduced similar bills since 2021. If enacted, SB 132 would prevent both visa holders and foreign companies from acquiring farmland or land within 25 miles of Georgia military installations if they are from countries designated by the US Secretary of Commerce as "foreign adversaries" or as "Countries" are designated of Special Concern" by the US Department of State. This includes a wide range of countries, including China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela (foreign adversaries) as well as Burma, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan (countries of special concern). .

Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta), the author of the bill, said he was motivated by concerns about national security -- China in particular. "This law simply prohibits the Chinese communist government from buying our farmland in Georgia ... I want to make sure that communist China does not farm our farms," he told the Atlanta Civic Circle.

"I think we have to pay attention and make sure we protect our farmland," Beach added. The bill is supported by 14 other Republican senators and passed by the Senate by a vote of 35 to 20 with one abstention. Two Democrats joined the Republican majority to send the bill to the House of Representatives.

SB 132 was introduced in the Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee.

The related House Committee is Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. Read the latest version of the invoice. Chinese investors and companies owned nearly 384,000 acres of U.S. farmland as of 2021, according to the U.S.

Department of Agriculture. That accounts for just 0.9% of foreign-owned US farmland, far less than European landowners (Dutch investors own 4.4 million acres) and Canadian owners 9 million acres. By contrast, Bill Gates owns nearly 270,000 acres.

"Attacking and stigmatizing immigrants" Critics say the bill is dangerously overblown. Rather than targeting specific governments, it unfairly and widely restricts the purchase of property by ordinary people, while promoting the stigma of immigrants.

For example, land within 25 miles of a military airport, base or facility covers most of the greater Atlanta area. In addition, visa holders from destination countries who leave Georgia for more than two months a year -- or the United States for more than six months -- are subject to the land ban. "It limits how long you can leave Georgia and how long you can leave the country," said Jennifer Lee, the political director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, which sent an action alert against the law to community members. "If you own or inherit property and fall into these categories, you must get rid of your property -- or essentially change your property [residency] Status."

Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director for Project South, says SB 132 discriminates on the basis of national origin, which violates the Fair Housing Act and can leave many immigrant groups vulnerable to targeted attacks. "The United States has a long history of attacking and stigmatizing immigrants. Discrimination against certain groups has often been justified by invoking national security concerns," Shahshahani said. "This bill and others like it reflect this shameful story... [It] will continue to brand and attack immigrants, leaving them vulnerable to hate crimes and abuse."

Atlanta real estate agent Tim Hur is president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America, which campaigns against SB 132 and similar bills in other states. Hur says he doesn't believe it's the broker's responsibility to ask questions about immigration status in real estate transactions. "As real estate agents, we are not the immigration police.

We're not in the business of asking people about their immigration status," he said. "It's a fair dwelling violation left and right and we don't want to be a part of it." Courts have lifted these types of land ownership restrictions before, Lee added, but "there's a new wave of them, with increasing anti-China rhetoric and sentiment." That's why we're worried." Hur and his colleagues are closely monitoring SB 132 and similar bills at the national level. "If it goes through in one state, it sets a precedent for other states," he warned.

Even if SB 132 dies in this session, Hur predicts it will return in some form next year. "Even if this law is not passed, it will come into force in a different way next year," he said. Active federal military institutions throughout Georgia Sophia Qureshi is Editor of 285 South and Writer in Residence at Canopy Atlanta.

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