Judge in Florida Declines Change of State law in Florida

On Thursday, August 17, 2023, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor revoked a proposal by four Chinese nationalists to block a law in the State of Florida that restricts the act of purchasing or owning any type of property in the state of Florida for Chinese or other citizens from “countries of concern”. This law only applies to individuals who are not American citizens, or green card holders who still claim their home country as their place of residence. Other countries’ citizens that fall upon are Syria, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and North Korea. Also applying to people who are not originally from these countries but who are citizens. The law was signed last May by Republican Presidential hopeful, Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis who stated that this law is intended to protect U.S. citizens from the influence of the Communist party.

There is one loophole for citizens of these countries, however. Non-tourist visa holders are allowed to own properties anywhere outside of a 5-mile perimeter of any military properties or critical infrastructure.

Judge Allen Winsor told reporters that the ban likely does not violate the U.S. Constitution or any laws banning housing discrimination due to the law being based on citizenship and not race or national origin. However, this law was claimed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process and the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). This claim was agreed with by the Biden administration who filed a brief stating that the law violates the FHA. With the decision to sustain the law, the plaintiff’s lawyer, American Civil Liberties Union’s own staff attorney Ashley Gorski said that the group will appeal.