Challenging State Alien Land Laws
This initiative advocates for equality in ownership of property regardless of race, citizenship, national origin, and immigration status. In that regard, CIJ has collaborated with racial justice centers at law schools, civil rights organizations, and professional bar associations in supporting constitutional challenges to recent so-called “alien land laws” that states have enacted on the basis of race and national origin. These laws are reminiscent of anti-Asian alien land laws of the early 1900s, which have long been considered violative of the Equal Protection Clause. Challenging these discriminatory laws is essential to ensuring equal access to economic opportunity, protecting immigrant and minoritized communities from systemic exclusion, and affirming the constitutional promise of equality under the law.


