Florida Wins Battle To Keep Chinese Land Buyers Off Its Soil

A federal appeals court on Tuesday cleared the way for Florida to enforce a law restricting property purchases by foreign buyers from China

The law in question, SB 265, was signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and prohibits individuals “domiciled” in China who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from purchasing property in Florida. In a 2-1 decision, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims that the law violated federal law or discriminated against Asians.

“Today we won big at the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, defending our law preventing ownership of Florida land by the Chinese Communist Party,” Republican Attorney General James Uthemier wrote on X following the decision.

The law allows non-tourist visa holders and asylum recipients to purchase one residential property of up to two acres, provided it is located at least five miles from any military installation.

The court ruled that the plaintiffs — four Chinese citizens, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — lacked standing to sue because the law applies only to people “domiciled” in China.

“National, individual, land, and food security concerns motivated [the law’s] enactment,” Judge Robert Luck, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, wrote for the court. “There’s nothing in these statements that show any animus toward Asian people or those of Chinese national origin.”

“State officials, for example, submitted to the district court evidence showing the Chinese government and Chinese foreign principal investors combined owned nearly 580,000 acres of agricultural land in the United States by the end of 2021. And according to these reports, that rise in land ownership didn’t happen in a vacuum — it occurred alongside concerns the Chinese government was ‘working aggressively to undermine U[nited States] interests,’” Luck added. “The national security concerns underlying the registration requirement are thus a ‘reasonably conceivable’ basis for this provision.”

Judge Barbara Lagoa, a fellow Trump appointee, concurred, while Judge Charles Wilson, a Clinton appointee, dissented.

“All people, regardless of where they come from, should be free to buy homes and build lives in Florida without fear of discrimination,” Ashley Gorski, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement. “Although today’s decision is disappointing, we’ll continue to fight laws like these that blatantly target immigrants based on their national origin and ethnicity.”

Neither DeSantis’ office nor the ACLU responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

Chinese nationals purchased approximately 11,700 U.S. homes between April 2024 and March 2025, an 83% increase from the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Lawmakers in numerous other states have enacted restrictions on foreign nationals’ ability to purchase property in their states. For instance, Texas passed a law in late June barring those from countries identified as security threats — which include China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — from purchasing agricultural land, commercial or industrial properties, residential properties and land used for mining or water use.

At the federal level, the Trump administration’s Department of Agriculture announced in July that it will look to block Chinese nationals from purchasing American farmland and end departmental “agreements going to people and entities in countries of concern or other foreign adversaries.”