Florida's state law barring land ownership by some Chinese people is being supported by 12 Republican state attorneys general, Politico reported.
Idaho Attorney General Raúl R. Labrador argued in a July 7 amicus brief, filed at a federal court in Florida, that the Sunshine State’s law is constitutional.
The brief said that Florida is one of at least 24 states that legally restrict foreign ownership of land along with numerous other countries, Politico reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union has asked U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor to block the law because it's unconstitutional. A July 18 hearing is scheduled.
The Department of Justice, though not formally intervening in the case, told Winsor in June that the Florida law is discriminatory and therefore violates the U.S. Constitution and federal Fair Housing Act.
Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah joined Idaho in the filed brief, which says that such state laws are not preempted by federal laws.
Labrador wrote that Florida and the other states are "fulfilling their most basic state functions by exercising sovereignty over their soil" and are not driven by "'racial animus,' as the plaintiffs charge."
The brief added that Florida and other states are protecting their citizens from foreign real estate investments that threaten to drive up the price of farmland and housing, Politico reported.
In early May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that requires 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 lists a numer of nations as a "foreign country of concern": China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela.
The law prohibits people 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.
In late June, DeSantis, who’s running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, accused the DOJ of siding with the Chinese Communist Party.
"As governor, I prohibited CCP-tied entities from buying land in Florida," DeSantis tweeted. "As president, I’ll do the same."
Critics backed by the ACLU of Florida say Senate Bill 264, approved by the Florida Legislature on May 4 and inscribed four days later, is so vague that it risks creating "Chinese exclusion zones."
Politico also reported that an ACLU attorney on Wednesday said his Chinese immigrant clients and a real estate firm that caters to Chinese people have faced illegal discrimination under the new law.
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