Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill yesterday that restricts certain foreign nationals from buying land in the state. The legislation, called SB420, specifically targets "agents" of China, preventing them from purchasing farmland or commercial real estate near military bases.
The Republican governor heralded the bill during a ceremony in Valdosta as a necessary step for safeguarding national security, insisting that, “We cannot allow foreign adversaries to control something as critical to our survival as our food supply.” Yet, this new law has stirred a hornet's nest of criticism, met with allegations of discrimination and potential legal pushback. According to WABE, the law also applies to citizens of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, unless they have resided in Georgia for at least 10 months out of the last year.
On the other side, Democrats strongly opposed the move. "By signing this bill, Governor Kemp is shirking his responsibility to protect the equality, civil rights and constitutional right to due process of all Georgians and is instead engaging in anti-Asian scapegoating and anti-immigrant fearmongering," said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, to WABE. Choi's organization firmly opposes the discrimination of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Thong Phan of the Atlanta chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice predicts stormy legal seas for SB420. Phan stated, in a conversation with WABE, “In time, we will see that this bill preempts federal law and violates people’s constitutional protections.” Meanwhile, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas have enacted comparable laws, and the presence of a suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier in the year has only fanned the flames of such legislation.
In a narrower scope, Kemp also put his signature on additional legislation, including one regulating the sale of CBD and consumable hemp products to individuals over 21, and another, dubbed "Austin's Law," that ramps up the penalties for traffickers of fentanyl-laced drugs resulting in fatalities. The latter honors Austin Walters, a young man who tragically died in 2021 after consuming a pill tainted with the lethal opioid. Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones hailed the measure, saying, “Austin’s Law will help save the lives of Georgians by fighting back against the criminals that traffic these deadly substances,” as reported by WABE.
