The
four plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) said in the lawsuit filed in Tallahassee, Florida
federal court that the state law, which takes effect July 1, is
unconstitutional and violates a federal law banning housing
discrimination.
The Florida Attorney General's office did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The law prohibits individuals who are "domiciled" in China and
are not U.S. citizens or green card holders from owning
buildings or land in Florida.
Florida's law also bars most citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Syria,
Iran, Russia and North Korea from owning property within 10
miles of any military installation or "critical infrastructure
facility" such as a power plant, airport or refinery.
The law includes a narrow exception allowing holders of
non-tourist visas from these countries to own a single property
that is not within five miles of critical infrastructure and not
larger than two acres.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce
soon that he is running for U.S. president, signed the law
earlier in May, saying it would help protect Americans from the
influence of the Chinese Communist Party.
People who own or acquire property in violation of the law are
subject to criminal charges, fines and imprisonment.
The ACLU in Monday's lawsuit said the law violates provisions of
the U.S. Constitution that guarantee equal protection and due
process. The group said the state law also violates the federal
Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination based
on race and national origin.
The lawsuit compares Florida's law to a series of "alien land
laws" that U.S. states adopted in the early 1900s barring
Chinese and Japanese immigrants from owning land. Courts struck
down most of those laws in the 1950s, though a law in Florida
remained on the books until 2018, when voters passed a ballot
measure to repeal it.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by
Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
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