DeSantis bans Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed three bills into law on Monday, including one prohibiting Chinese citizens from purchasing land in the state. The new regulations are intended to "counteract the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida," per a press release.
"Today, Florida makes it very clear we don't want the CCP in the Sunshine State," DeSantis said at a press conference on Monday. "We want to maintain this as the free state of Florida."
The new bill, SB 246, "prevents Chinese nationals from buying land in Florida unless they are also American citizens or permanent residents," Insider explains. In an exception to the new law, legislators added "an amendment allowing anyone holding a non-tourist visa to buy one property of up to two acres," Insider adds, "as long as it's not within five miles of a military installation."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
DeSantis called the latest bill a response to a "concerted effort" by the Chinese Communist Party to acquire farmland in Florida. The governor also signed a bill that bans using Chinese-owned social media apps, like TikTok and WeChat, on government devices and another that limits colleges and universities from entering agreements with their counterparts in foreign "countries of concern" such as China. Florida has also banned Russian, Cuban, Iranian, North Korean, Syrian, and Venezuelan citizens from purchasing property within 10 miles of a military base. However, they were not entirely banned from buying land in Florida.
"Florida is taking action to stand against the United States' greatest geopolitical threat — the Chinese Communist Party," DeSantis said in a statement. "I'm proud to sign this legislation to stop the purchase of our farmland and land near our military bases and critical infrastructure by Chinese agents, to stop sensitive digital data from being stored in China, and to stop CCP influence in our education system from grade school to grad school. We are following through on our commitment to crack down on Communist China."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.
-
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years – a 'beautiful and raw' exhibition
The Week Recommends This superb career retrospective in Edinburgh brings together more than 200 works from the misunderstood artist
-
Merryn Somerset Webb chooses five books on how the world works
The Week Recommends The financial columnist picks works by Peter Turchin, Adam Smith and Christopher Clark
-
Big Brother is watching: Wi-Fi signals can track you in your home
Under the radar It could open the door to mass surveillance
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
Eighty years after Hiroshima: how close is nuclear conflict?
Today's Big Question Eight decades on from the first atomic bomb 'we have blundered into a new age of nuclear perils'
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil
Speed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymander
Speed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote
Speed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts
-
Trump criticized for firing BLS chief after jobs report
Speed Read Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer oversaw a July jobs report that the president claims was rigged