Discrimination Against People from Countries Deemed Foreign Adversaries (HB 1099)

This bill would create sweeping restrictions against people from countries that have been deemed as “foreign adversaries” by the federal government (including China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia), as well as any other country designated as a threat to critical infrastructure by the governor.

Under the bill, new state and local government contracts for certain tech products would have to require vendors to swear that they and their subcontractors are not “prohibited persons.”

State colleges would be prohibited from admitting students from these countries into qualifying programs, unless they are a U.S. citizen, resident, or granted asylum. These qualifying programs include engineering, AI, computer science, microbiology, and virology. It would also give the Commissioner for Higher Education the power to add additional programs with a 30-day notice to university trustees. Currently enrolled students would be grandfathered in, meaning they would not be subject to these prohibitions.

The bill would also repeal existing law on foreign ownership of agricultural land and replace it with a new, more restrictive prohibition on owning or leasing Indiana property. And it would give the attorney general broad power to enforce those new restrictions.

We oppose this bill because it would mandate blatant discrimination against people based solely on national origin.