老澳门开奖结果

ATLANTA 鈥� The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals today temporarily halted the enforcement of an unconstitutional Florida law, known as SB 264, against two Chinese immigrants who have challenged the statute in court. SB 264 bans many Chinese immigrants, including people here as professors, students, employees, and scientists, from buying a home in large swaths of the state. This decision comes after a Florida district court ruled against the plaintiffs鈥� motion to preliminarily block the law while the case proceeded.

The 老澳门开奖结果 (老澳门开奖结果), 老澳门开奖结果 of Florida, DeHeng Law Offices PC, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and the law firm Quinn Emanuel are representing Chinese immigrants who live, work, study, and raise families in Florida, but would be prohibited under SB 264 from buying a home, as well as Multi-Choice Realty, a local real estate firm whose business has been harmed by the law.

鈥淎s a Chinese citizen who was in the process of buying a home when this law went into effect, I鈥檝e been extremely worried ever since,鈥� said a plaintiff impacted by today鈥檚 ruling. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision is a relief for me and my family, and we hope that the courts will permanently halt enforcement of this law.鈥�

The court of appeals unanimously held that the plaintiffs showed a substantial likelihood of prevailing in their arguments that SB 264 is preempted by federal law because Congress has already established a system of national security review of real estate purchases by foreign nationals. The court granted an injunction barring enforcement of the law against two of the plaintiffs while the court makes its decision on the merits of the appeal.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt that Florida鈥檚 discriminatory housing law is unconstitutional,鈥� said Ashley Gorski, senior staff attorney at 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淭he court鈥檚 decision brings two of our clients tremendous relief, and we will continue fighting to prevent this law from being enforced more broadly.鈥�

Under SB 264, people who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and whose 鈥渄omicile,鈥� or permanent home, is in China, are prohibited from purchasing property in Florida altogether. The sole exception is incredibly narrow: People with non-tourist visas or who have been granted asylum may purchase one residential property under two acres that is not within five miles of any 鈥渕ilitary installation.鈥� This term is vaguely defined in the law, but there are at least 21 large military bases in Florida, many of them within five miles of cities like Orlando, Miami, and Tampa鈥攑utting many major residential and economically-important areas completely off-limits.

A similar but less restrictive rule also applies to many immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Syria. But the law singles out people from China for especially draconian restrictions and harsher criminal penalties.

鈥淔lorida's alien land law specifically targets Chinese individuals in clear violation of the Equal Protection Clause,鈥� said Bethany Li, legal director of AALDEF. 鈥淭oday's ruling should serve as a warning to other states who are considering passing similarly racist bills, steeped in a history when Asians were ineligible for citizenship and were told they didn鈥檛 belong. As a country, we should be making progress and passing laws that protect all communities rather than going back in time and reviving antiquated laws passed over a century ago.鈥�

Florida鈥檚 pernicious new law recalls repeated efforts over the past century to weaponize false claims of 鈥渘ational security鈥� against Asian and other immigrants. In the early 20th century, politicians used similar justifications to pass 鈥溾�� in California and more than a dozen other states, prohibiting Chinese and Japanese immigrants from becoming landowners. Florida was one of the last states to repeal its 鈥渁lien land law鈥� in 2018.

鈥淭his Florida law is just like the alien land laws of more than a hundred years ago banning Asian Americans from owning land,鈥� said Clay Zhu, attorney and managing partner at DeHeng Law Offices PC. 鈥淚t is unfair, unconstitutional, and un-American. We are encouraged by today鈥檚 decision from the court.鈥�