A new bill working its way through the Arizona State Legislature will drastically reduce the proportion of land in the Grand Canyon State owned by entities from an adversarial foreign country.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1683, is being proposed by Republican Senator Frank Carroll and specifically states that a “foreign adversary nation or foreign adversary agent may not, directly or indirectly, purchase, own, lease, acquire by grant or devise” real property in the state.
Approved in the Senate Federalism Committee on February 16 by a 5 to 2 vote, the measure is also designed to place restrictions on the ability of a foreign adversary to access critical infrastructure in Arizona.
In a statement, Carroll, who is also the Senate Majority Whip, said the legislation is “about protecting Arizona, plain and simple.”
Carroll called adversaries who purchase Arizona land, “bad actors.”
“If they can’t buy property, they will try to lease it,” he remarked. “If they can’t put their names on a deed, they’ll hide behind shell companies or secretly install surveillance equipment.”
According to a fact sheet prepared by the Arizona Senate Research Staff, the legislation would additionally prohibit a “foreign adversary nation or agent from installing, maintaining, or having access to the data of, or operating any equipment” on property in the state.
That prohibition would apply to “autonomous systems, antennas, communications systems, surveillance devices or sensors.”
The legislation is now on its way to the full Senate for review.
Last summer, Arizona Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs signed into law what was called the Blocking Adversarial National Act designed to stop foreign adversaries from owning land near military bases and critical infrastructure in the state.
March 2, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
