(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . DOJ legal brief: State ban on Chinese immigrants buying property in Florida is unconstitutional [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- June'] Date: 2023-06-28 Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have filed a legal brief contending that a new law that bans Chinese immigrants in Florida from purchasing property near military installations or critical infrastructure facilities is both discriminatory and unconstitutional. The measure (SB 264) signed into law in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis prohibits individuals who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents and whose “domicile” is in China or six other “foreign countries of concern” from owning or purchasing real property in the state, and is set to go into effect this Saturday, July 1. In the DOJ’s 22-page “statement of interest” filed on Tuesday night, a group of Florida-based U.S. Attorneys as well as officials from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice allege that the measure violates both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, writing that “[t]hese unlawful provisions will cause serious harm to people simply because of their national origin, contravene federal civil rights laws, undermine constitutional rights, and will not advance the State’s purported goal of increasing public safety.” The legislation imposes civil and criminal penalties for violations of the land ownership provisions in the law, with the most onerous being a third-degree felony for Chinese purchases of land, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The ACLU of Florida and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit in coordination with the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance last month after DeSantis signed the bill into law, contending that it will codify and expand housing discrimination against people of Asian descent in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Fair Housing Act. They subsequently filed an emergency motion to block the law from being implemented on July 1, saying that the Chinese citizens who are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit will be forced to cancel purchases of new homes, register their existing properties with the state of severe penalties, and face the loss of significant business. The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, denied that request, but has scheduled to hold a hearing on July 18 on whether or not to implement a preliminary injunction. That means that the July 1 law will go into effect. During the 2023 legislative session in April, dozens of Chinese-Americans came to the state Capitol to testify against the proposed measure (HB 1355 at the time) that would ban the sale of agriculture land and property near military bases and other critical infrastructure facilities to interests tied to the Chinese government and six other “countries of concern.” The Chinese-Americans who signed up to speak in the Capitol said the measure could lead to more hate crimes and discrimination against their community. “I’m 8 years old,” said Manman Chen, said at the time. “I want to ask a question: Did Chinese people do something bad to Florida? Why does the government not allow them to purchase property. I only get punishment when I do something wrong.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/06/28/doj-legal-brief-state-ban-on-chinese-immigrants-buying-property-in-florida-is-unconstitutional/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/