TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected the arguments of Chinese citizens in Florida who challenged a 2023 state law restricting ownership of property by those “domiciled” in China and other “countries of concern.”
Details: The three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law, championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, did not cause injury to three Chinese plaintiffs because they now are living in Florida and do not intend to purchase additional property.
“That means no plaintiff has established an imminent injury in fact as to the purchase restriction, so no plaintiff has standing to challenge it,” the panel’s majority wrote.
A district court judge in Tallahassee previously found the plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, had standing but denied their request for a preliminary injunction because they had not shown a substantial likelihood of winning the case.
