After living in the dormitory and unsatisfactory apartments for many years, Lisa Lee can't wait to live in a new home.
This one -bedroom river view apartment is located in the financial district of Miami. It is a safe community. Lisa Lee heard that neighbors are similar to her -do not like parties and prefer to relax.Therefore, Lisa Lee, who came to the United States as a Chinese student at the age of 28 and 11 years ago, opened a price. The price she opened was accepted, and she began to order furniture.
Then things turned sharply.The Property Valley Certificate Company put forward a concern at the last moment, because there is a small outpost of the American Coast Guard near the South Beach, a few kilometers away from the apartment building.New laws, the law prohibits many Chinese citizens from buying real estate in the state, especially near military facilities, airports or refineries.
According to this law, Lisa Lee may face the disaster of prison, and sellers and real estate agencies may also be held accountable.The transaction was blowing.
"The whole experience is very hurtful and tired," Lisa Lee recently said in an interview in a cafe in Miami that she still rent a house there."I just think that as a person who has lived and worked in this country for many years, as a legal taxpayer, I should be able to buy a house I can live in at least."
More than 30 states have promulgated or are considering the formulation of similar laws to limit Chinese citizens and companies to buy land. The reason is that such transactions have become increasingly threatened to national security, and the federal government feels that it has not stopped China from preventing China from in the United States in the United States.Impact.
The above -mentioned Florida law was effective in July last year, and it was also the most widely covered in such laws.In addition to prohibiting Chinese entities from purchasing agricultural land, it is actually forbidden to buy residential properties that do not have green cards.Governor Ron De Santis signed the law before starting his activity of presidential candidates in the Republican Party, warning voters that China represents the biggest threat to the United States.
"Today, Florida said very clearly: We don't want them to appear in the state of this sun," De Santis said last year.
In more than a dozen interviews, Florida residents from China were disappointed outside the door of the ultimate American dream.Some Chinese residents said they were facing discrimination when they bought a house.Some people say they are worried whether they have violated the law inadvertently.
But some Chinese people said that they felt that anti -China is increasing.This law is currently being questioned by the federal court.
"Before this law was introduced, I never felt any discrimination here," Jin Bian, a software developer from China, said that he is now a banned buyer.one."But now I am thinking, do you need to leave Florida?"
The law has also produced a clear cicada effect on the real estate industry, and the real estate industry is an important part of the Florida economy.Developers often rely on Chinese investors to help the state's construction projects, and the law seems to have banned such funds, which has aroused opposition from a major real estate lobbying group.
Ms. Hu, the real estate agent, who claims to be "Sister Yukey", estimates that she has rejected 10 potential customers, accounting for about 20%of her usual business, because she cannot be sure whether they are qualified to be qualifiedFlorida buy a house.
In principle, this legal is applicable to those who "settle" China, have no US citizenship or permanent residence rights. Most of the uncertainty of the law concentrated in the meaning of "settlement".Sellers and real estate agents may face one year's imprisonment for violation of this law.
"I received a call from people every day and asked if they could buy a house based on this law," Ms. Hu, who had been in real estate sales in Florida for 10 years."I asked them to ask a lawyer to ask, but for those who are not sure about their identities, we don’t want to take this danger."
The legal restrictions of Florida comes from six other "concerned countries" (such as Venezuela and Cuba) "foreign parties" have real estate in the state.But the strictest restrictions and stringent punishment are specifically targeted at Chinese citizens.
This law is part of a more widely of bill passed by the Florida legislature last spring. It also includes the laws that restrict public universities and colleges in the state with laws that provide researchers from students from China and other countries. This lawIt is also questioned in court.
"The more deeper you know the underlying operation, the more you can find that they have been secretly plundering the land in the United States," the Republican member of the Florida Council from the Miami region David Boriro said that he was the above real estate law.One of the sponsor."We can't watch it happen in our backyard."
Berrero does not agree with critics that the real estate law is discriminatory."First of all, we must consider our national security interests," he said.
State legislators are particularly worried about China's investment in territorial land and military facilities in agricultural land and military facilities, worrying that China may be able to stuck the necks that the United States can supply in the United States, or use these land for spy whistle.According to data from the US Department of Agriculture, in the US agricultural land owned by foreigners, the area of Chinese interests has less than 1%.
National Security Experts said that the specific threat of Chinese citizens in the United States has not been clarified.
The former anti -intelligence official of the bureau's office in the Chinese office in the Federal Investigation Bureau Holden Trip Litt said that the absolute ban may further refresh the Chinese community.The community may be particularly helpful for the United States.
"We need to use these blunt methods carefully," Tripulite said that he had left the Federal Investigation Agency in 2020 and jointly established a risk management consulting company Trenchcoat Advisors."We should work hard to investigate the situation to see if there are other ways to solve problems."
Residents believe that the law violates the equal protection clauses in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and the Federal Housing Law of the Federal Government, weakening the federal government's power in foreign affairs.question.
"There is no evidence that Chinese citizens have harm to national security in the United States," said Ashley Golski, a senior lawyer of the American Citizen Freedom Alliance that the alliance was one of the several organizations in federal lawsuits.
Ai Mingru, a professor of research at Columbia University and a professor of Asian Americans, said that the laws of Florida reminded me of the foreigner land law in the early 20th century. The law actually banned Asian immigrants from buying farmland in many statesAnd in some cases, they are prohibited from buying houses.
"They regard Asians as the invasion of the United States," Ai Mingru said.
After the bill of housing in Florida entered the legislative agenda last spring, the state's Chinese community in the state began to quickly organize rally and mobilization activities.
Opposition from the Asian American community (including a former Chinese Republican member of the House of Representatives) from the Asian American community, which helped weaken some of the clauses in the state similar bill.But the Chinese community in Florida only accounted for 0.6%of the state's population.Many people are the first generation of immigrants studying or working in universities in the state.And there are almost no Asian politicians in the state legislature.
Florida activists' objections have hardly attracted attention.
The Lobby of the Famous hedge Fund Castle Investment (Citadel)Work is more effective. The company has moved from Chicago to Miami in 2022, hiring a large number of Chinese citizens.The company's lobbyists have added an exemption clause to the law to allow Chinese people who hold a valid work visa to buy a major residence.The distance is more than five miles (eight kilometers).
But most of the restrictions initially proposed in the bill are still retained, and the influence of the law almost immediately appears.
Tarrahaxi's real estate agent, Sonny Lang (sound), said that she is now going to measure it carefully on Google's map to estimate whether her Chinese customers are qualified to buy real estate places they want.There are about 20 major military bases in Florida, many small military outposts, and more important facilities such as airports and water treatment plants that may be under the jurisdiction of the law.
"Many of my customers want to buy a house in a community in a good school, but the community is too close to the airport," she said."This is a big test for me."
Asian Americans are also worried that the law has led anyone to face the qualitative problem of image, whether they have citizenship or permanent residence.
A man said that in a time -seeing time for a home to buy a house, a real estate agent asked him if he heard that he had to talk to his parents in Mandarin.
The real estate agent of the Palm Beach Garden, Evilin Yang (Yin) said that shortly after the law took effect, she had repeatedly represented a Chinese customer with permanent residence right to ask Miami's apartment.She said that the seller's agent did not reply to her inquiry for several days.
"When they finally responded to my call, they just said,‘ Can your buyer buy? Can Chinese citizens buy it now? ”Ms. Yang recalled."When they see our names in China, they think we cannot buy a house."
Skate Zhang (Sound), a senior legal adviser to the National Fair Housing Alliance, said that this interaction may be regarded as intentional discrimination based on nationality and banned by the fair housing law promulgated in 1968.On Monday, the alliance and several other groups announced a new lawsuit that put forward this allegations.
Nearly a year after the failure of buying a house, Ms. Li, Miami, still clearly remembers the days when she tried to save the house purchase transactions crazy.
Desperate calling lawyers and state legislators.It takes time to calculate the distance between the house and the maritime police outpost.Ms. Li's real estate agent even drove to the maritime police outpost in South Beach, trying to determine whether it belongs to the "military facilities" in the law.
Ms. Li said she still likes to live in Miami.Compared with the New York City she had lived, it was very clean.She likes to have tennis classes on Palm Island Park, and likes to taste the diverse food with her friends.
But the house purchase experience has left her bitter taste.
"I think I may have to leave here," she said."Who knows what policies they will put forward next time?"
