Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could soon decide which countries' citizens are banned from purchasing property in the state.

The Texas House approved Senate Bill 17 Thursday after it was amended to allow the governor to add to the list of countries whose residents, governments and other groups are prevented from buying property. The bill already lists China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

The bill received its preliminary approval in an 85-60 vote that largely followed party lines, The Dallas Morning News reported. The legislation sponsored by Republican Rep. Cole Hefner from Mount Pleasant next heads back to the Senate.

“We must not allow oppressive regimes who actively seek to do us harm to seize control and dictate their terms over our economy, supply chain and our daily lives,” Hefner said, according to the DMN.

Much of the House debate over the bill centered around China, with Democrat Rep. Gene Wu from Houston arguing it would lead to attacks against Asian Americans. Wu immigrated to the U.S. from China as a child.

“Nobody around here knows the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese or Japanese and Vietnamese,” Wu said. “When the attacks come, when the hate crimes start, it will be against all Asians — everybody with [an] Asian face.”

If the bill is signed into law, it would only apply to purchases or acquisitions after it goes into effect on Sept. 1.

A similar bill targeting the same four countries was introduced during the Texas Legislature’s last session in 2023. It was eventually amended to only restrict the sale of farmland and died in the House.

The updated bill singled out the four countries based on U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s 2025 threat assessment report.

If approved, the bill would allow the Texas Attorney General to investigate claims of property owned by the designated nations and seize the parcels through a court order. The property would then be sold, and proceeds would go back to the prohibited owner.

“This body was charged by our voters to do one simple thing: Don’t allow the enemies of our country to systematically buy up our most precious natural resource, the land under our feet that was bought by the blood of Texas patriots,” Republican Rep. Andy Hopper from Decatur said.

The bill also received support from Republican Rep. Angie Chen Button, who was born in Taiwan and now lives in Garland.

However, the advocacy group Asian Texans for Justice labeled the bill as “xenophobic.”

“It is signaling that Asian people are dangerous and enemies of the state,” Asian Texans for Justice co-Executive Director Lily Trieu said.

A similar law in Florida was temporarily blocked by a federal appeals court after it went into effect in 2023.