Florida
Florida ‘Anti-Chinese Land Law’ Upheld By Federal Court
Ron DeSantis anti-alien ownership law upheld by Florida Distirct Court (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty … [+]
A new Florida law that limits land ownership rights of certain noncitizens domiciled in China or other specific countries was challenged recently in Federal District Court by Chinese Plaintiffs Yifan Shen, Zhiming Xu, Xinxi Wang, Yongxin Liu, and Multi-Choice Realty, LLC. The decision was important from an immigration point of view since, among other things, the law in question prevents certain Chinese immigrants and others from buying land in Florida, such as for example, Chinese investors applying for permanent residence in America under the EB-5 program.
The challenged law, became effective on July 1st, 2023. It restricts land purchases by any “[f]oreign principal,” which it defines to include anyone “who is domiciled in a foreign country of concern and is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States.” It provides that, subject to certain exceptions, “[a] foreign principal may not directly or indirectly own . . . any interest . . . in real property on or within 10 miles of any military installation or critical infrastructure facility.”
It includes a grandfather provision for foreign principals who owned covered property before the law took effect. Another section of the law provides that subject to certain exceptions, foreign principals domiciled in China cannot “directly or indirectly own . . . any interest . . . in real property,” regardless of its proximity to military installations or critical infrastructure and must sign affidavits attesting that they are not principals of China.
In the Federal District Court case the four Chinese citizens living in Florida as non-residents, along with a brokerage that does business with Chinese citizens, contended the Florida law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, the Fair Housing Act, and the Supremacy Clause. They moved for a preliminary injunction.
In considering the motion, the court first considered whether the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the state law and concluded that they did. Then the court considered the key issue of substantial likelihood of success.
The court declared, “To succeed, Plaintiffs must clearly establish four factors: (1) that they have “a substantial likelihood of success on the merits”; (2) that they will suffer irreparable injury without an injunction; (3) that they face a threatened injury that “outweighs whatever damage the proposed injunction may cause” Defendants; and (4) that “the injunction would not be adverse to the public interest.” Plaintiffs must clearly establish all four factors; failing as to any one is “fatal.”
The court then dealt with the Plaintiffs’ first claim to the effect that the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee. That guarantee “is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike.” It applies to both citizens and noncitizens. Generally, state legislation is presumed valid and will be upheld if it is “rationally related to a legitimate state interest.” But that presumption sometimes gives way to strict judicial scrutiny. The court then considered whether strict scrutiny was applicable here.
The court pointed out that certain laws classifying people to be treated differently, or facially neutral laws motivated by a discriminatory purpose, are subject to strict scrutiny. When strict scrutiny applies, a challenged law is valid only if “narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling interest.”
The court started by saying when a statute classifies persons “by race, alienage, or national origin,” strict judicial scrutiny usually applies. But the court then rejected the application of a strict scrutiny standard of review of this Florida law arguing the law did not treat aliens differently based on their country of foreign citizenship. Instead the law focused on alien domicile and the court argued that everyone domiciled in China did not connote a racial or ethnic dimension, but argued that anyone can be domiciled in China – not just Chinese citizens. Citing U.S. Supreme precedent decisions the court held that this Florida statute restricting landownership by ineligible aliens satisfied equal protection.
The court also found that the Plaintiffs had not shown a substantial likelihood that unlawful animus motivated the Legislature. It observed that Plaintiffs must prove that the Legislature enacted the new law “‘because of,’ not merely ‘in spite of,’ its adverse effects upon an identifiable group” again arguing that the law applies to any noncitizen domiciled in one of the specified countries which included China, Russia, Iran and others and therefore had no clear unlawful animus.
In a summary paragraph in the judgment, the court said, “The Supreme Court has repeatedly cautioned against overemphasizing statements from individual legislators, which are not necessarily ‘what motivates scores of others’ to act (or, in this case, not act).” The question is not whether a Legislator or two had discriminatory animus; the question is about the motivation of the Legislature as a whole. Plaintiffs have not met their burden of showing a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their discriminatory-intent claim. The court did not consider whether a voting majority of legislators in a state Legislature could be found to have an unlawful animus in a case like this one.
It also rejected arguments to the effect that federal laws in relation to this area pre-empted state law. The application was denied because according to the court the Plaintiffs had not met the “high threshold” necessary to show a likelihood that Florida’s law is an obstacle to the federal regime. The court argues that just as the Plaintiffs had not shown a likelihood that the Florida law stands as an obstacle to the implementation of federal law, the Plaintiffs had not shown that the federal law at issue was so pervasive as to demonstrate that Congress left no room for state regulation. The court concluded, “Indeed, the federal law Plaintiffs rely on is not pervasive at all. Plaintiffs have again not met their high burden.”
For these reasons the application for an injunction was denied. No doubt the case will be appealed.
TAMPA – Jesuit High School senior quarterback Will Griffin always idolized Florida Gator football legend Tim Tebow.
“I look up to him,” Griffin said.
However, it’s Tebow that is now looking up at Griffin, at least when it comes to the high school football record books.
What they’re saying:
“He’s definitely the once in a career type of player,” Jesuit head coach Matt Thompson said. “You don’t really get it that much. Not as a quarterback. I have not had a quarterback be as special as Will.”
In the first game of the 2025 season, Griffin surpassed the 10,000 passing yards career milestone. He is just the 10th player in high school football history in the sunshine state to ever join that club, according to MaxPreps. Tebow finished his career at Nease High School with 9,765 passing yards.
“10,000 was amazing,” Griffin said. “It is really hard to do that. I’ve got to remind myself that I go out here and play for the team. I am not playing for myself or the stats that follows. If you can have a good team around you and a great defense to get you the ball, a great offense that can score, the stats will naturally come.”
The backstory:
It certainly helps he was able to play varsity football as a seventh and eighth grader under Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend Mike Alstott at Northside Christian. Griffin makes it clear; however, he does not deserve all of the credit for hitting this mark.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the offensive line,” Griffin said. “If it wasn’t for the receivers catching my passes. If it wasn’t for the running backs running touchdowns to open up the pass. A lot of things go into it.”
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A lot of things go into his success, but Jesuit head football coach Matt Thompson says Griffin has a lot of the traits to be successful.
“He has all of the measurables,” Thompson said. “[He has] the size, the speed, the strength and the arm strength as a quarterback. His football IQ is outstanding. He understands the game. He understands the offense. He understands the defense. He’s a total package.”
The University of Florida was impressed with those abilities and offered him a scholarship. For the kid who grew up watching the Gators on fall Saturdays, it’s a dream come true.
Going to Gainesville
“It’s just home,” Griffin said. “It felt like the right place for me to be. Very excited. I want to get there. I want to help out. I want to contribute. I want to play really badly.”
However, at this moment, Griffin just wants to soak in his last few months as a high school football player.
“I am trying to enjoy it as much as I can because I know it’s going to end soon,” Griffin said. “I want to make sure I take in every moment.”
That’s because Griffin wants to be remembered not for his stats but for who he is as a person.
“I want people to remember me more as a leader rather than going to Florida,” Griffin said. “I want it to be more like, ‘He was a leader. He gave everything to the team. He never quit. He never gave up.’”
Griffin will enroll early at Florida. He was the first commit for Billy Napier in the 2026 recruiting class.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Mark Skol, Jr.
Florida
Thousands of Northeast Florida students, community members pour out support for Charlie Kirk at vigil
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Students and community members from across Northeast Florida gathered Sunday evening at Veterans Park to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed last week while speaking at Utah Valley University.
The vigil that brought out thousands was organized by student-led chapters of Turning Point USA, including groups from the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Creekside High School and St. Augustine High School.
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Kirk, who co-founded Turning Point, was known for his rallies, debates and outspoken presence on college campuses across the country.
“Somebody that inspired me, somebody who made me want to voice my own opinion and how I feel about things going around in the world and my beliefs,” Abigail Venuto said.
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Students who talked with News4JAX said the event honored Kirk’s legacy.
“We honored his movement,” Jaden Duffey said.
Mourners lit candles and left flowers and handwritten messages at the vigil.
Duffey, former president of Creekside High School’s Turning Point USA chapter, urged unity.
“We’re in the midst of a political escalation,” he said. “Everybody needs to de-escalate and we’re not alone. We’re unified as Americans and that’s the most important thing.”
Duffey said during his time with Creekside chapter he had the chance to meet Kirk several times over breakfast.
“Someone who has accumulated millions of followers it was just stunning,” Duffey said. “Then you realize that he’s a very humble person inside.”
Duffey said he was in disbelief when he first heard the news of Kirk’s death. He said there were lots of calls and conversation leading up to Sunday’s vigil.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged the vigil in a social media post earlier in the day, saying deputies would have a “large law enforcement presence” at the park and surrounding area as a precaution.
“We’ve got to calm down,” Duffey said. “We have to bring back the American way – the first amendment right, allowing people to just disagree with one another no matter how passionate it is but violence is never the option.”
Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
The No. 18 South Florida Bulls play against the No. 5 Miami Hurricanes in a college football game today. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. CT on The CW Network. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trial offered by DirecTV.
The Bulls enter this matchup with a 2-0 record, and they have already defeated two ranked opponents this season. In their most recent game, the Bulls defeated Florida 18-16.
During the victory, Byrum Brown led the South Florida offense. He completed 23-36 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown, so he will look to perform similarly this afternoon.
Notably, Brown led the team in rushing with 66 yards on the ground.
The Hurricanes also enter this matchup with a 2-0 record, and they are coming off a 45-3 win against Bethune-Cookman.
During the victory, Carson Beck led the Miami offense. He completed 22-24 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, which highlights his arm talent.
Beck has thrown for four touchdowns and nearly 500 yards this season, so he will try to continue his offensive success today.
Fans can watch this college football game for free online by using the free trial offered by DirecTV.
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