June 18 :
Chinese nationals without US green cards are outraged by a new rule that Florida signed on June 18 that makes it harder for them to buy property in the state. Anxieties and misunderstanding have been heightened among the state's ethnic Chinese population as a result of the regulations, which highlight the heightened tensions between the world's two largest economies in the year of the US presidential election. Some claim the law has hurt their company, while others are contemplating leaving the state of Florida completely.
A software engineer named Bian, who is 31 years old and has been in the United States for 12 years, is a beneficiary of the H-1B visa programme that permits businesses to hire foreign nationals. He was informed that this choice could land him in jail. I was very taken aback by that. Bian, a native of Nanjing, China, explained that it's simply buying property. "Once I learned that, I didn't even bother to look anymore." Buying property in Florida without a green card has been a felony offence carrying the possibility of jail time for Chinese nationals since the implementation of Senate Bill 264 on July 1, 2023. Real estate agents and sellers may also face legal consequences, according to CNN.
Bian mentioned that he and others had begun to reevaluate their lives in Florida. It prohibits the "purchase or acquisition of real property" for "any person who is domiciled in the People's Republic of China and who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States." The word "domiciled" isn't precisely defined in the statute, though.
"We feel like we're different from everyone else because of this type of law," stated Echo King, president of the Florida Asian American Justice Alliance and a US citizen born in China. "We feel like we're not welcome." The bill's introduction "really felt the discrimination" for Susan Li, a 47-year-old Orlando, Florida, small business owner with a green card.
When the law was approved, Li, like Bian, had been looking for a new place to live. Her family has chosen to put their home hunt on hold out of concern for possible legal difficulties, even though she is a legal resident of the US. Property within ten miles of any "military installation or critical infrastructure facility" in Florida is forbidden to citizens of Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria under SB 264.
The bill goes even beyond, prohibiting Chinese nationals without permanent resident status from buying property in the state. In a statement last year, DeSantis stated, "Florida is taking action to stand against the United States' greatest geopolitical threat—the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)". Several other states are contemplating legislation along these lines, and the one in question is presently facing legal challenges. Tense relations between the United States and China have coincided with the passage of the contentious law.
A Chinese surveillance balloon was found over Montana last year, and the United States eventually shot it down, raising suspicions of Chinese government espionage in the United States. Chinese purchases of agricultural land have been a growing concern for US senators, who have also accused Chinese-owned apps like TikTok of eavesdropping, a claim that TikTok rejects.
A little under one percent of all foreign-held land in the United States is owned by China, with 349,442 acres of both agricultural and non-agricultural land in their possession, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
