Wu speaks out against the foreign-land-ownership bill
Wu and Asian Texans for Justice opposed HB 17’s ban on land ownership by people from certain countries, warning it was “the very first step” back toward Japanese internment.
At a Capitol news conference with the nonprofit Asian Texans for Justice, Rep. Gene Wu spoke out against HB 17 — a bill to bar people from countries like China and Russia from owning land in Texas — calling it a slippery slope toward exclusionary laws.
Most of the 200-plus residents who testified opposed the bill, some calling it racist. Wu warned it echoed the rhetoric and targets of past discrimination: “They were passed for the same reasons … and they are doing it to basically the same groups of people. We have done this before.”
My real concern is not just the ownership of land — this is the very first step we take on our march back to Japanese internment. — Rep. Gene Wu
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