Texas Ban on Chinese Land Buying Survives Appeals Court Test (1)

A federal appeals court denied a challenge to a Texas law restricting land purchases by foreign nationals from countries including China after finding a plaintiff lacked standing.

The plaintiff, Peng Wang, is not domiciled in China so couldn’t bring a lawsuit to block SB 17, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday.

The law is one of multiple bans passed by states on real estate acquisitions by certain immigrants, citing national security concerns. Wang’s suit, filed against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, had argued the law is unconstitutional. A divided Eleventh Circuit panel last month overturned ...