A new legislation~, that prohibits Chinese nationals from purchasing property in significant portions of the state was the subject of a lawsuit filed on Monday by a group of Chinese residents and employees in Florida.
, as well as properties within 10 miles (16 km) of military sites and other “critical infrastructure”. The most severe sanctions, however, are imposed on Chinese citizens and those who sell them real estate. Agrarian property is likewise subject to the restriction.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the regulation will significantly reduce sales to Chinese and Asian buyers of real estate. According to the lawsuit, there is no proof that Chinese nationals purchasing Florida real estate pose a threat to national security and that the statute unfairly links Chinese people with the conduct of their government. According to the ACLU, the law “will codify and expand housing discrimination against people of Asian descent in violation of the Constitution and the Fair Housing Act,” which is why it is suing. Additionally, it will place an excessive weight of suspicion on anyone looking to purchase real estate whose name even faintly resembles an Asian, Russian, Iranian, Cuban, Venezuelan, or Syrian name.
Amid rising tensions over security and trade, U.S.-China relations are strained. Since a Chinese surveillance balloon passed over the sky from Alaska to South Carolina last month, a long-standing concern over foreign land ownership in nearly a dozen state legislatures and in Congress has increased.
The legislation was signed on May 8 by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, who is scheduled to start his campaign for president this week. Emailing his office for comment did not immediately elicit a response. The law will go into effect on July 1. Chinese citizens who purchase real estate in restricted locations will be breaking the law, as would anyone who sells to restricted people on purpose, including real estate agents. The punishment is a misdemeanor for buyers and sellers for the other designated nations.
In addition to infrastructure like airports and seaports, water and wastewater treatment plants, natural gas and oil processing facilities, power plants, spaceports, and central switching offices for telecommunications, it also applies to military installations. The law, according to the ACLU, “will ultimately create ‘Chinese exclusion zones’ that will cover enormous portions of Florida, including many of the state’s most densely populated and developed areas.”
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