Cole Hefner, said the legislation would make Texas and the nation safer because "adversarial nations," as identified by the U.S. national intelligence director — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — could not become Texas landowners.

The Texas House gave approval Friday to a controversial bill that would restrict land purchases by people from certain foreign countries—drawing strong criticism from Democratic lawmakers, who compared the legislation to historical injustices like Japanese internment during World War II.

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn introduced a bill Thursday to codify President Donald Trump’s executive order instituting the death penalty