(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the state of Florida on China’s behalf for the state’s decision to stop foreign nationals from buying land in America, Axios reported.
The ACLU and several other left-wing activist groups are behind the suit attempting to stop a new Florida property law, SB 264, from coming into effect on July 1 which will prohibit foreigners from owning land in the southeast state.
According to the text of the bill, the law would disallow “foreign principals from purchasing agricultural land, or having more than a de minimus indirect interest in such land, and certain real property in this state.”
But those behind the lawsuit wrote that the “racist” bill “imposes especially draconian restrictions on people from China.”
Lawyers also claimed that it is not a problem for foreigners to own real estate in America, arguing that it is a fundamental right for them.
“There’s no evidence that real estate purchases by people from China are causing harm, but there is a long history of similar policies making discrimination and violence against immigrants worse,” they wrote.
The bill legitimizes and expands housing discrimination, in violation of both the Constitution and the Fair Housing Act.
It is unfair, unjustified, and unconstitutional.
We, @aaldef, @acluFL, and @dehenglaw are ready to fight back against this racist policy.
— ACLU (@ACLU) May 22, 2023
The ACLU has been joined by the left-wing legal organization, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which claimed that such a law would “cast an undue burden of suspicion on anyone seeking to buy property whose name sounds remotely Asian, Russian, Iranian, Cuban, Venezuelan, or Syrian.”
According to an ACLU statement, the remarkable bill will at once violate the constitution and the unconstitutional Fair Housing Act.
Ashley Gorski, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, said that American laws are meant to give foreigners the same benefits as Americans.
“Florida’s discriminatory property law is unfair, unjustified, and unconstitutional,” she said.
“Everyone in the United States is entitled to equal protection under our laws, including citizens of other countries,” she added. “If SB 264 goes into effect, it will profoundly harm our clients and countless other immigrants in Florida.”
