ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed a bill into law limiting the ability of some Chinese citizens to buy land in the state.
The bill, SB420, echoes measures already signed into law in numerous other states. It bans any “agent” of China from buying farmland in Georgia or any commercial land near military installations.
Democrats in the state Legislature had blasted SB420 as discriminatory, but at a bill-signing ceremony in the southern city of Valdosta, the Republican governor touted it as a national security measure.
“We cannot allow foreign adversaries to control something as critical to our survival as our food supply,” Kemp said.
Critics said the measure — and others like it — reflected xenophobia and would harm immigrant communities.