The Texas governor issued an executive order last year targeting criminals carrying out influence operations on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed legislation to protect Texans from political coercion and intimidation orchestrated by foreign government agents.
Abbott signed SB 1349 into law on May 24, after the House passed the legislation by a vote of 125–15 on May 9. The bill, which creates criminal offenses for acts of transnational repression and unauthorized enforcement of foreign law in the Texas Penal Code, will go into effect on Sept. 1.
Rep. Cole Hefner, one of the sponsors of the legislation, thanked Abbott for his “swift signature,” in a post on the social media platform X on May 25.
“Texas leads the way!” Rep. Janie Lopez, another sponsor of the legislation, wrote on X on May 25.
State Armor, a nonprofit that advises states on security threats, wrote on X that Texas now has the “first transnational repression law in the United States.”
“Texas is leading the way in putting foreign adversaries like Communist China on notice!” the nonprofit wrote.
Last November, Abbott issued an executive order directing the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to arrest any individuals found to be engaging in influence operations on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). His order focused on influence operations such as “Operation Fox Hunt,” an extralegal initiative by the Chinese regime to repatriate alleged fugitives and dissidents to China.
Under the soon-to-be-enacted law, an individual is considered to have committed the offense of transnational repression if the person conspires to or commits certain crimes—including assault, harassment, stalking, causing an individual to leave or be confined in the United States, or retaliating against someone for engaging in protected First Amendment activities—on behalf of a foreign government or foreign terrorist organization, according to an analysis of the bill.
“The penalty for transnational repression is one category higher than the most serious offense of trafficking of persons, assault, aggravated assault, harassment, stalking, or compelling prostitution that was committed or conspired to be committed, except if the most serious offense is a felony of the first degree, the offense is a felony of the first degree with a minimum term of confinement of 15 years,” the analysis reads.
The new law also makes it a second-degree felony for anyone acting on behalf of a foreign government or terrorist organization to investigate, monitor, or surveil someone in Texas in order to stop them from breaking a foreign law.
By Frank Fang
