Diana Xue always followed the politics of her husband, friends, and neighbors in Orlando, Florida, voting Republican.
On Election Day this year, she will break that pattern.
When the Republican-majority Florida Legislature and Republican governor enacted a law last year that would ban Chinese nationals who are not permanent residents of the United States from purchasing real estate or land, it was about a decade after they came from China to attend college. Mr. Xue, who became an American citizen, experienced an “awakening”. At the time, she felt that the Sunshine State had more or less legalized discrimination against Chinese people.
Although Florida has proven to be reliably Republican in recent years, Shue said, “Thanks to this legislation, I’m going to start helping and flip as many seats as I can.”
At least 24 states have passed or proposed “alien land laws” targeting Chinese nationals and businesses purchasing property and land on the grounds that China is a foreign enemy. Although other countries have been mentioned, experts say the political debate has always focused on China.
The land law has been pushed primarily by Republican lawmakers amid growing concerns about intelligence and economic threats from China. At the time of signing the Florida law, Gov. Ron DeSantis called China the “greatest geopolitical threat” to the United States and said the law was aimed at countering the Chinese Communist Party.
Some Chinese-born people with American citizenship now feel marginalized by the law and are leaning toward the Democratic Party. Many people fear being treated unfairly because of their ethnicity.
In February 2023, tensions between the United States and China reached a fever pitch when what appeared to be a Chinese reconnaissance balloon was spotted over Montana. Shortly thereafter, Republican-leaning states such as Missouri, Texas, and Tennessee introduced similar land rights measures.
All of these measures included restrictions on companies and people from China and other foreign adversaries, such as not purchasing land within a certain distance of military installations or “critical infrastructure.” Some laws have very narrow exceptions for non-tourist visa holders and people granted asylum.
The National Farm Law Center estimates that 24 states currently prohibit or restrict ownership of private farmland by nonresident aliens and foreign companies and governments. A Chinese billionaire has bought more than 130,000 acres (52,600 hectares) of land near a U.S. air base in Texas, and Chinese company Fufeng Group is building a corn factory on a 300-acre (120 hectare) site near the air base. In response to the attempt to construct a farmland, interest in agricultural land ownership restrictions increased. ) in North Dakota.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said such laws not only violate market economic principles and international trade rules, but also “further incite hostility toward the Asian and Chinese communities in the United States and encourage racial discrimination.” “It strengthens people’s social status and seriously undermines their social status.” These are the values that America claims to hold. ”
State laws prohibiting Chinese people from owning land are discouraging Chinese investors and scaring away other foreign investors who would help rebuild the U.S. industrial base. said John Lin, who has worked for decades to attract industrial projects to the United States.
The law also excludes real estate agents and brokers. Angela Hsu, a commercial real estate attorney in Atlanta, said the handling of a law that Georgia’s governor signed in April restricting land sales to some Chinese nationals is confusing.
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“The brokers I’ve talked to are just trying to figure out how to do it safely,” Hsu said.
At the federal level, the House of Representatives approved a bill in September that would make farmland sales involving nationals of China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran “reportable.” But it is unlikely to win Senate approval.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Washington, said China “is quietly purchasing American farmland at an alarming rate, and this bill is an important step toward reversing that trend.”
California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters joined several Asian American groups in opposing the bill, saying the bill’s “broad approach” of targeting people from specific countries amounts to racial profiling. claimed to be equal.
China owns less than 1% of foreign-owned farmland in the United States, far behind Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Portugal.
Four Chinese nationals filed suit after Florida’s land law was signed into law in May 2023. In April, lawyers representing them for the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal appeals court to block it.
This story brought together the Chinese diaspora in Florida. Some have formed the Florida Asian American Justice Alliance. Among them was Xue. She became interested in parliamentary research and lobbying. She found that only Democrats, like state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who is Iranian-American, agreed that the law was xenophobic.
“She said, ‘This is discrimination.’ I will stand with you and fight with you,” Xue said.
Hua Wang, president of United Chinese Americans, another civic engagement group, said more people are starting to realize that these laws “directly impact each of us.”
“Whether it’s Texas or Florida, there are people who say they’re interested and organized for the first time,” Wang said.
Chris Su, a professor of Asian American history at Emory University, said the land laws passed in the name of national security reflect a pattern from World War II, when the U.S. viewed the Japanese as a threat. said. Hsu said it is difficult to argue that a law is unconstitutional when it is based on citizenship on paper and names other countries.
Anti-China sentiment has shaped policy for more than 150 years. These included the Page Act of 1875, which strategically restricted the entry of Chinese women into the United States, and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first broad race-based immigration law. Ta.
Hsu said that policies targeting foreigners are hurting the bottom line of Americans as a whole, and the exclusion of Chinese workers from railroad jobs and Japanese immigrants from buying homes is a move against U.S. railroad kings. He pointed out that this would not be beneficial to landowners.
“That’s something to remember in today’s context as well,” Hsu said. “One of the key allies of those seeking to overturn Florida’s alien land laws are those who stand to lose money if there are no potential buyers for their land.”
As a result of this law, Chinese immigrants who obtain citizenship will have to worry about racism and suspicions of espionage within the country, Xue said.
“You may think it doesn’t matter to you, but people are paying attention to you, whether it’s your looks or your last name,” says Xue. “They’re not going to ask if you’re a U.S. citizen.”
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Terry Tan reported from Phoenix. Didi Tan reported from Washington.
