Ron DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Chinese Citizens From Buying Land In Florida

The governor has spent recent weeks attempting to burnish his foreign affairs credentials ahead of an expected White House bid.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed a bill into law to greatly restrict the ability of many foreign nationals to buy land in the state, and to prohibit most Chinese citizens from purchasing any land there whatsoever.

An exception is made for Chinese citizens with non-tourist visas, though they will still see their property rights curtailed. They will be limited to single parcels that are smaller than 2 acres and at least five miles from military bases.

The contentious measure, Senate Bill 246, also targets citizens of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela.

Under the law, people or entities hailing from those six countries, including businesses, will be prohibited from acquiring agricultural land in Florida, and barred from buying any property within 10 miles of military bases and infrastructure like seaports, airports, power plants and water treatment facilities.

State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D) opposed the legislation, warning that it appeared to be “veering into the area of national origin discrimination.”

More than 100 people signed up to testify against the bill at a hearing covered by the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper, many of them Chinese Americans who live in Florida as permanent, lawful residents.

“We have nothing to do with the government,” said Echo King, a woman from China who works in Orlando. “We are here for the freedom, the democracy, that [China doesn’t] have.”

DeSantis described the law as a strike at the Chinese Communist Party, which he cast as “the United States’ greatest geopolitical threat.”

“They have established a position of economic might, of industrial hegemony, and their military is far stronger today than it was 20 or 25 years ago,” DeSantis said at a bill-signing ceremony. “They have a leader who’s very ideological and is intent on expanding CCP influence, not just in their region but even around the globe.”

The governor has spent the past several weeks attempting to burnish his foreign affairs credentials ahead of an expected bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

DeSantis also signed off on two other bills he claimed are necessary to diminish foreign influence in Florida.

One of them, SB 846, prohibits state colleges and universities from accepting gifts or grants from ― or “participating in any agreement” with ― institutions “based in a foreign country of concern.”

SB 258, meanwhile, directs a state agency to create a list of foreign-owned apps — like TikTok from Chinese tech giant ByteDance — so they can be banned from any “government and educational institution.”

The laws are set to go into effect July 1.

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