South Carolina S 1065: Personal Property of Foreign Adversaries

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 1065 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 26, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 1065

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
1-1-2010 SO AS TO PROHIBIT OWNERSHIP OR CONTROL OF TANGIBLE OR INTANGIBLE 
PROPERTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA BY ALIENS OR PERSONS AFFILIATED WITH FOREIGN 
ADVERSARIES, FOREIGN TERRORISTS, OR TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS; BY 
ADDING SECTION 1-1-2020 SO AS TO AUTHORIZE THE GOVERNOR TO IDENTIFY FOREIGN 
ADVERSARIES, FOREIGN TERRORISTS, OR TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS 
IMPACTING SOUTH CAROLINA; BY ADDING SECTION 14-1-75 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT COURTS 
NOT USE SHARIA LAW IN MAKING JUDICIAL DECISIONS; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 
27-13-30, RELATING TO LIMITATION ON ALIEN LAND OWNERSHIP, SO AS TO PROHIBIT 
ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY BY ALIENS OR PERSONS AFFILIATED WITH FOREIGN 
ADVERSARIES, FOREIGN TERRORISTS, OR TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS AND TO 
PROVIDE FOR DIVESTING SUCH PERSONS OF THEIR REAL PROPERTY.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Title 1 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

Article 29

Prohibition of Ownership or Control of Property by 
Aliens or Persons Affiliated with Foreign Adversaries, Foreign Terrorists, or 
Transnational Criminal Organizations

 Section 
1-1-2010. (A) For the purposes of 
this section:

 (1) 
"Acquire" means buy, purchase, sell, own, lease, hold, or exercise control over 
tangible or intangible property on, before, or after the effective date of this 
section.

 (2) 
"Affiliated" means belongs to, is connected with, is a member of, represents, 
or acts on behalf of a foreign adversary, a foreign terrorist organization, or 
a transnational criminal organization.

 (3) 
"Alien" means a person who is not a citizen of or a lawful permanent resident 
of the United States.

 (4) 
"Foreign adversary" means any foreign government or nongovernment person 
determined by the United States Secretary of Commerce to have engaged in a 
long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the 
national security of the United States or the security and safety of United 
States citizens.

 (5) 
"Foreign law" means any law, rule, or legal code or system used or applied by 
another jurisdiction outside the United States or its territories and includes, 
but is not limited to, Sharia law.

 (6) 
"Foreign terrorist organization" means an entity designated by the:

 (a) 
United States Secretary of State in accordance with Section 219 of the 
Immigration and Nationalization Act, 8 United States Code § 1189, as amended, 
or

 (b) 
Governor of South Carolina as provided in Section 1-1-2020.

 (7) 
"Intangible property" means all property other than tangible property that is 
based in, established in, or the source for its existence is located in South 
Carolina including, but not being limited to, copyrights, trademarks, money, 
bank deposits, shares of stock, bonds, credits, evidences of debt, choses in 
action, or evidences of an interest in property.

 (8) 
"Person" means an individual, member, group, organization, corporation, and any 
other entity that has the authority to acquire real property.

 (9) 
"Tangible property" means real property and corporeal personal property located 
in South Carolina but does not include money, bank deposits, shares of stock, 
bonds, credits, evidences of debt, choses in action, or evidences of an 
interest in property.

 (10) 
"Transnational criminal organization" means a group that conducts illegal 
activities including, but not limited to, drug trafficking, human trafficking, 
money laundering, and cybercrime across multiple countries.

 (B) An 
alien or a person affiliated with a foreign adversary, a foreign terrorist 
organization, or a transnational criminal organization:

 (1) 
may not acquire any interest in any tangible or intangible property within the 
limits of this State on and after the effective date of this section; and

 (2) 
must be divested of any tangible or intangible property within the limits of 
this State that the alien or person affiliated with a foreign adversary, a 
foreign terrorist organization, or a transnational criminal organization has 
acquired.

 (C) On 
and after the effective date of this section, any tangible or intangible 
property acquired in this State by an alien or person affiliated with a foreign 
adversary, a foreign terrorist organization, or a transnational criminal 
organization is, without benefit of compensation or access to the process of 
eminent domain, forfeited to the State or, in the case of a lease, returned to 
the United States citizen owning the property.

 (D) 
The Attorney General's office, the South Carolina Law Division (SLED), a