Asian Real Estate Association of America President Jamie Tian stated her support this week for a recent court ruling that halted a Florida law restricting Chinese citizens from buying property in the state. 

The ruling from Judge Nancy Abudu in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, announced last week, temporarily stops the Florida law from being enforced until a three-judge appeals court panel hears oral arguments on the case in April.  

The law, approved last year and framed as a security issue by Gov. Ron DeSantis, limits Chinese citizens from buying property in Florida also restricts foreign nationals from Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Syria from buying land near military installations and key infrastructure in the state. 

Critics say the law won’t have a tangible effect on security, will dissuade investment in Florida and could be discriminatory.  

A lawsuit filed by two Chinese nationals trying to buy Florida property at the time the Florida law was passed led to Abudu’s ruling last week. 

“On behalf of our 18,000 members, I am thrilled with the court’s action,” Tian said. “This is an important step in having the law overturned. Using national security as a misguided reason, Florida’s legislators and governor wrongly targeted Chinese and other select groups of immigrants and their desire to purchase a home.” 

In her ruling, Abudu wrote, “The law is a blanket ban against Chinese non-citizens from purchasing land within the state. This prohibition blatantly violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against discrimination.” 

After the ruling, DeSantis’ office reiterated its support for the law. “We are confident in our legal position on the merits, and we will continue to fight back against foreign malign influence in Florida,” the governor’s deputy press secretary said. 

Tian said the legal battle is personal for her because her parents came to the U.S. from China as PhD candidates and eventually bought a home in Irvine, California. 

“That home — and the safety and security it provided — changed the course of my life,” Tian said. “My love of that home led me to get my real estate license while at UCLA and to eventually own my own brokerage.  

“It’s infuriating to realize we now live in a reality where homeownership is potentially out of arm’s reach for AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander) people in Florida. This ruling is the first step in overturning the law.”