Fifth Circuit Weighs Whether Buyers Living Abroad Can Challenge Texas Land Law
Fifth Circuit judges asked whether two Chinese citizens living abroad can sue over Texas's 2025 land law at all. Texas says they lack standing and constitutional rights.
A federal appeals panel on Monday questioned whether two Chinese citizens who live outside the United States can challenge the 2025 Texas law that bars buyers tied to China and other designated countries from acquiring Texas real property.
Min Huang, who lives in Shanghai, and Qiong Dai, who lives in New Zealand, each own a rental property in the Houston area and say they want to buy more. U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright dismissed their claims in December 2025, writing that “foreign citizens outside U.S. territory do not possess rights under the U.S. Constitution.” They appealed to the Fifth Circuit, in Huang v. Paxton, No. 25-51034.
The Argument
Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod asked how the court could help the two women after their claims were dismissed, and whether people living overseas have a constitutional right to buy Texas property without setting foot in the United States, Courthouse News reported. Judge Carl E. Stewart asked whether their plans to buy were speculative. Senior Judge Carolyn D. King joined the panel remotely.
Their lawyer, Justin Sadowsky, argued that they would travel to Texas on visitor visas to complete any purchase, and that the property and any enforcement would be in Texas. For the state, Assistant Solicitor General Benjamin Mendelson argued that the plaintiffs “alleged no specific plans to purchase any real estate in Texas” and that sovereign immunity bars the suit.
Elrod also asked whether the state has any interest in who owns land within its borders, the outlet reported. The panel took the case under submission. The court had not posted a recording of the argument as of Tuesday morning.
What the Law Says
Senate Bill 17, in effect since September 1, 2025, bars a government of a designated country, companies headquartered in or controlled by one, and certain individuals from buying or acquiring an interest in Texas real property. The covered individuals include people domiciled in a designated country and citizens of one who live abroad in a country where they have not naturalized. The law ties designated countries to the federal intelligence community’s annual threat assessments, and the district court listed China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. A citizen of a designated country who lives lawfully in the United States may still buy a home to live in.
The Fifth Circuit threw out an earlier challenge in December 2025, ruling in Wang v. Paxton that the plaintiff, a student who had lived in Texas for 16 years, was not domiciled in China and so lacked standing. A third plaintiff in the Huang case, a Baylor University student, was left in the district court, where Albright stayed the rest of the case. In October, the attorney general proposed rules to enforce the law, as the Texian Partisan reported.
Who Decides
The plaintiffs’ complaint asks federal courts to hold that Washington’s foreign investment, fair housing and lending laws override the Legislature’s decision on who may hold Texas land. Monday’s argument turned on a narrower question, whether people abroad can sue at all. The Legislature answered the larger one in 2025, and Texas is defending its answer in federal court.
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