Georgia governor signs bill into law restricting land sales to some Chinese citizens

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.

“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, a nonprofit opposed to discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.