Four Chinese immigrants are suing the state of Florida over a new law that bans them from purchasing property in parts of the state.
The law, signed by presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, is set to take effect on July 1st.
It restricts people from “foreign countries of concern” – defined as China, Russia, Iran, Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria – from buying agricultural land and property within 10 miles of “critical infrastructure”.
When signing the law, a press release from DeSantis stated its components are intended to “counteract the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida.”
“I’m proud to sign this legislation to stop the purchase of our farmland and land near our military bases and critical infrastructure by Chinese agents, to stop sensitive digital data from being stored in China, and to stop CCP influence in our education system from grade school to grad school. We are following through on our commitment to crack down on Communist China.”
“China and other hostile foreign nations control hundreds of thousands of acres of critical agricultural lands in the U.S., leaving our food supply and our national security interests at risk,” said Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson in the same press release.
Lawsuit Backed by ACLU
The suit was filed on behalf of four Chinese plaintiffs who argue the law “stigmatizes them and their communities, and casts a cloud of suspicion over anyone of Chinese descent who seeks to buy property in Florida.”
The American Civil Liberties Union is representing the group of immigrants in court.
They contend the law violates the Fair Housing Act and that “there is no evidence of national security harm resulting from real estate ownership by Chinese people in Florida.”
Though Florida’s bill was the first officially signed into law, over a dozen states have introduced similar bills targeting Chinese ownership of agricultural land.
They are not citizens. Can we go to China and buy agricultural land? And, doesn’t the “A” in ACLU stand for American?
The A stands for African !
I suppose we could just cancel their citizenship and return them to China, as threats to national security, instead….it is more than a bit curious they all seem to want land near our critical infrastructure, after all, when their homeland is turning so hostile toward us… But then, maybe I’m just paranoid… The only trouble with that notion is that just because I’m feeling paranoid doesn’t mean there’s not truth to my concern! Look at how many former “conspiracy theories” of the past couple of decades have turned out to be real conspiracies against us! Those who labeled us “conspiracy theory nuts” are, in fact, parts of those very conspiracies. Isn’t it time we start looking at, and listening to, the evidence in front of our faces, and not the liars telling us it’s just our imagination?