More than 30 states in the U.S. have enacted or are considering laws restricting the purchase of real estate by Chinese citizens and businesses. After years of living in dorms and unsatisfactory apartments, Lisa Lee can't wait to move into her new home.
This one-bedroom river-view apartment is located in a safe neighborhood in Miami's financial district, and Lisa Lee has heard that the neighbors are much like her — less of a party lover and more of a relaxer. So Lisa Lee, 28, who came to the United States 11 years ago as a Chinese student, made an offer, and her offer was accepted, and she began to order furniture.
Then things took a turn for the worse. The title company raised a last-minute concern because of a small U.S. Coast Guard outpost near South Beach, a few kilometers away from the apartment building, that Ms. Li's purchase of an apartment in the building could violate a new Florida law that prohibits many Chinese nationals from buying property in the state.
Under the law, Lisa Lee could face jail time, and sellers and real estate agents could be held accountable. The deal blew up.
"The whole experience was very hurtful and tiring," Ms. Lee said in a recent interview at a Miami café, where she still rents a room. "I just feel that as someone who has lived and worked in this country for many years, as a legal taxpayer, I should at least be able to buy a house that I can live in."
More than 30 states have enacted or are considering similar laws restricting Chinese citizens and companies from purchasing land.
The Florida law, which went into effect last July, is the most extensive of its kind. In addition to prohibiting Chinese entities from purchasing agricultural land, it effectively prohibits most Chinese individuals who do not have green cards from purchasing residential properties.
In more than a dozen interviews, residents of Florida from China expressed disappointment at being rejected from the ultimate American dream. Other residents of Chinese descent said they faced discrimination when buying a home. Some said they were worried about whether they had inadvertently broken the law.
"I never felt discriminated against here before this law was introduced," said a software developer from China who works in Tampa and is now one of those who are barred from buying a home. "But now I'm wondering if I need to leave Florida."
The law has also had a noticeable chilling effect on the real estate industry, which is an important part of Florida's economy. Developers often rely on Chinese investors to help with construction projects in the state, and the law appears to have banned such funding, sparking opposition from a major real estate lobby.
Ms. Hu, a real estate agent in the Orlando suburb of Winter Garden, who calls herself "Sister Yukey," estimates that she has turned down 10 potential clients, about 20 percent of her usual business, because she can't be sure if they qualify to buy a home in Florida.
The law applies in principle to people who "settle" in China and do not have U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, and much of the uncertainty in the law focuses on what "settled" means. Sellers and real estate agents can face up to a year in prison for violating this law.
"Every day I get calls from people asking if they can buy a home under this law," said Ms. Hu, who has been doing real estate sales in Florida for 10 years. "I told them to go to a lawyer and ask for it, but we didn't want to take that risk to people whose identities were uncertain."
Florida's Chinese community makes up only 0.6 percent of the state's population, and many Chinese are first-generation immigrants to study in the state.
Asian-Americans are also concerned that the law has caused anyone who identifies as Chinese to face profiling issues, regardless of whether they have citizenship or permanent residency.
One man said that during a viewing for would-be buyers, a real estate agent asked him if he was eligible to buy the home because he heard him talking to his parents in Mandarin.
Evelyn Young, a real estate agent at Palm Beach Gardens, said she repeatedly inquired about an apartment in Miami on behalf of a Chinese client with permanent residency shortly after the law went into effect. She said the seller's agent did not respond to her inquiries for days.
"When they finally got back to my call, they just said, 'Can the buyer you're representing buy?'" Can't the Chinese buy it now? Ms. Yang recalled. When they saw that we had Chinese names, they thought we couldn't buy a house. ”
Still love to live in Miami. It's clean compared to New York City, where she used to live. She enjoys taking tennis lessons on the courts at Isle of Palms Park and enjoying the diverse cuisine with her friends.
But that experience has left a bitter taste on her. "I feel like I might have to get out of here," she said. "Who knows what policy they'll come up with next time?"