12 Republican AGs back Florida in court challenge to Chinese land ownership law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Twelve Republican state attorneys general are asking a federal court to side with Florida in a legal challenge to a new state law barring land ownership by some Chinese people.

And in a related development, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer on Wednesday said his Chinese immigrant clients and a real estate firm that caters to Chinese people already are facing illegal discrimination under the new law.

Florida is heading into a hearing July 18 on the ACLU's request to block the new law sought earlier this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The U.S. Department of Justice in late June told U.S. District Judge Allen C. Winsor that the Florida law is discriminatory and therefore violates the U.S. Constitution and federal Fair Housing Act, though the DOJ has not formally intervened in the case.

But the Republican attorneys general told the court late last week that Florida is one of at least 24 states that legally restrict foreign ownership of land along with numerous other countries.

Led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl R. Labrador, the Republicans argued in an amicus brief filed July 7 that such state laws are not preempted by federal laws despite such claims by the DOJ and ACLU.

Florida and these other states and countries are not driven by “'racial animus’ as the Plaintiffs charge," the Idaho attorney general's office wrote. "They are instead fulfilling their most basic state functions by exercising sovereignty over their soil."

Florida and other states also are protecting their citizens from foreign real estate investments that threaten to drive up the price of farmland and housing, the brief said.

Idaho did not list the other 23 states, but a footnote in the brief cited some state statutes including a new Virginia law that prohibits agricultural land ownership by any "foreign adversary" as determined by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

DeSantis and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said earlier this year the new law was needed to protect Florida's farmland and food supply from the Chinese Communist Party.

DeSantis, who is running for president, in late June accused the DOJ of siding with the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP.

"As governor, I prohibited CCP-tied entities from buying land in Florida," DeSantis tweeted. "As president, I'll do the same."

Florida officials argued in a court brief last week that Chinese immigrants who claim they face discrimination under the new Florida law are not domiciled in China and therefore are not subject to restrictions. The state says the immigrant clients of the ACLU therefore lack legal standing to sue.

In a response brief filed Tuesday, the ACLU said the state's arguments don't protect its clients from discrimination or prosecution under the new law but do demonstrate how the law is unconstitutionally vague.

Under the law, anyone in Florida buying agricultural land or property within 10 miles of a military base, installation or designated "critical" infrastructure must sign an affidavit saying they are not prohibited under state law from doing so.

The law, which took effect July 1, labels eight nations as a "foreign country of concern": China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela.

According to the law, anyone "domiciled" in those nations who are not "lawful" U.S. residents may not purchase agricultural land after July 1.

The new law, which passed as SB 264 (23R), specifically prohibits those from China from owning additional property or buying more than a single parcel of two acres and that it must be at least five miles from a military installation.

The ACLU reply brief filed Tuesday included emails to ACLU plaintiff client Multi-Choice Realty of Clermont from two lending firms that said they no longer will finance real estate transactions for Chinese citizens because of the new state law.

"We are already seeing the devastating effects for homebuyers and real estate businesses, and we look forward to being in court next week to explain why this unconstitutional law must be halted,” Patrick Toomey, deputy director of ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement Wednesday.

The other states that joined Idaho in filing the brief are Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.