Stephen Johnson Field,
Phillips v. Moore — Opinion of the Court
“ By the common law, an alien cannot acquire real property by operation of law, but may take it by act of the grantor, and hold it until office found; that is, until the fact of alienage is authoritatively established by a public officer, upon an inquest held at the instance of the government. ”
Stephen Johnson Field,
Phillips v. Moore — Opinion of the Court
“ There is some conflict of opinion in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Texas as to the effect upon the title of a sale of real property to a non-resident alien. Language properly applicable to grants to aliens under the colonization laws, and the instructions to the commissioner under the contract with the Empresario Austin, has sometimes been used with reference to sales to them by private parties. ”
Stephen Johnson Field,
Phillips v. Moore — Opinion of the Court
“ According to this decision, considered with reference to the general prohibitory language of the laws of Mexico, respecting the acquisition of real property by aliens, in force in Texas previous to the latter's independence, the rule which there obtained may be stated to have been substantially this: that a non-resident alien could not acquire, under a sale by a citizen, such an interest in land as to be able to hold it against the government, or to prevent it being denounced and adjudged to be vacant land, subject to be regranted ”
