The Japanese American National Museum Decries Proposed Texas Law Barring Citizens from China and Three Other Countries from Buying Property in the State

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) decries Senate Bill 147, proposed legislation that targets citizens of China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia from buying property in the state. The bill’s author, Republican state Senator Lois Kolkurst, asserted that the bill would not apply to US citizens and lawful permanent residents, but given the rise in anti-Asian hate, the proposed legislation echoes the history of anti-Asian discrimination accelerated by state and federal law.

“This bill is an unequivocal repeat of anti-Asian history. It stems from the same discrimination that fueled the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Alien Land Laws, and the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans in concentration camps. If this legislation passes, we are in grave danger of forgetting the lessons learned from the incarceration experience and the larger immigration history that we tell here at JANM,” said Ann Burroughs, President and CEO of JANM.

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