We're Suing Florida for Anti-Asian Housing Discrimination

This May, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 264, a law that restricts Chinese nationals from acquiring property in the state of Florida under the guise of protecting national security. But the issue is actually pretty clear — Chinese people are not the Chinese government, and conflating the two is just the latest iteration of anti-Asian land laws and anti-Asian discrimination that date as far back as the 1880s. Rather than protecting national security, the law will shatter the dreams of Chinese families, students, and business owners hoping to build a life in the Sunshine State.

So we at the ACLU, along with our partners, are suing Florida over SB 264, arguing in Shen v. Simpson that the law legitimizes and expands housing discrimination against people of Asian descent and therefore violates both the Constitution and the Fair Housing Act.

Joining us today to discuss the case are Bethany Li, legal director of the Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund and one of our co-counsels in the case, and Echo King, an immigration lawyer and co-founder of the Florida Asian Americans Justice Alliance, a group which rallies the support of Floridians against this kind of discrimination.