West Virginia HB 2961 and the New Alien Land Laws

On April 28 of this year, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey signed House Bill 2961 into law. Co-sponsored by 11 Republicans, the bill is set to take effect on July 10 and is part of a much wider national effort to restrict foreign property ownership in order to protect Americans from “foreign influence.” The bill will prohibit “foreign-party-controlled” entities from buying, selling, owning, or otherwise acquiring public or private property in West Virginia. Foreign parties listed in the bill include groups like Hamas, the Russian Government, and Hezbollah, but the list also includes Chinese citizens, excluding permanent residents of the United States. “Foreign entities” will be given six months to divest from any property they own in West Virginia or face a lawsuit.

Though marketed as a solution to reduce espionage and economic overreliance on “hostile entities,” the provisions in the bill’s text targeting Chinese citizens are in fact thinly veiled attempts to discourage Chinese immigration. This bill will severely restrict the ability of Chinese people to conduct commerce in West Virginia, and stems from a place of xenophobia and anti-Chinese sentiment. 

Of course, the Mountain State is far from alone in its efforts to ward off undesirable outsiders. 24 other states have passed similar bills in recent years, including the fellow Appalachian states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. This resurgence in discriminatory legislation reflects the broader anti-Chinese sentiment that has emerged following the disastrous trade war and COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Morrisey himself referred to COVID-19 as the “China virus” in his State of the State address in February.

Governor Patrick Morrisey [Source: The Associated Press]

While this new wave of laws has shown up fairly recently, they bear a striking resemblance to the Alien Land Laws of the 19th and 20th centuries. Massive waves of Chinese and Japanese immigration to the United States in the time period prompted backlash from nativist groups. Feeling pressured to protect white Americans from the “Yellow Peril,” numerous state legislatures began passing laws restricting property and land ownership by Asian immigrants. In 1859, Oregon amended its constitution, saying that no “Chinaman” would be permitted to own property in the state any longer. In 1879, California restricted ownership of land to people “the white race or of African descent.” In 1943, Arkansas barred Japanese citizens and people of Japanese descent from buying land. These laws and many more were created with the same intention as the lawmakers of today: To tell certain groups of people “You are not welcome here in America.”

1878 Anti-Chinese cartoon [Source: The Wasp]

Unfortunately, efforts to restrict property ownership are not limited to the state level. Several bills are currently pending in the US Congress, including the Protecting our Land Act, the No American Land for Communist China Act, and Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act, all of which are designed to prohibit or severely restrict property ownership by Chinese citizens at the federal level.

During times of hardship, immigrants become a convenient and easy scapegoat. Asian Americans are no strangers to this phenomenon, whether it be in the 1800s or the modern post-COVID era. During times of conflict with China, Chinese immigrants bear the brunt of America’s anger. These exclusionary laws aren’t just about land and property - they’re about who belongs in this country. By resurrecting the racist rhetoric of the past, lawmakers not only set a dangerous precedent for the future, but they also spit in the face of one of this nation’s founding principles: equality of opportunity.

Ethan Liu