The court’s ruling blocks the portion of 2023’s Senate Bill 846 that unfairly restricts international students from China, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia, and North Korea from working in Florida public universities and colleges
TALLAHASSEE – A federal court today blocked a portion of Florida’s discriminatory law, SB 846, that restricts international students from China, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia, and North Korea from being employed in any capacity in any Florida public university or college unless they prove to governing Florida bodies that they are not national security threats. The court held that this unconstitutional law is blocked “to the extent that it prohibits student employment at Florida’s state universities and colleges already authorized by F-1 visas issued by the federal government.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2024 by two Chinese students at Florida International University (FIU) and a professor at the University of Florida (UF) whose academic careers were harmed by the passage of this law in 2023. Both graduate students invested thousands of dollars in traveling to Florida in reliance on the academic employment offers that FIU withdrew only after their arrival, offers that were fundamental to completing their respective doctoral degrees. The third plaintiff, Professor Guan, a renowned agricultural economist at UF, was no longer able to recruit the best postdoctoral candidates to work on his research projects due to the law, threatening his grant funding and access to promotion and increased compensation through his research sought to protect Florida’s crucial citrus industry from a devastating fungus.
The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA), and Perkins Coie LLP, in coordination with the Asian American Scholar Forum.
The lawsuit argues that SB 846 violates federal law and casts undue suspicion on anyone seeking to study or academically work in Florida who looks or whose name sounds remotely Asian, Russian, Iranian, Cuban, Venezuelan, or Syrian.
“Today’s ruling confirms what we already knew–this is an illegal law that cannot stand,” said Daniel Tilley, legal director for the ACLU of Florida. “We are pleased that international students across Florida can now pursue their studies and work without fear of this discriminatory law.”
“This ruling validates the supremacy of federal law that is crucial to our constitutional order and recognizes that Florida cannot legitimately presume that every person from the covered countries is a spy. It provides well-deserved relief to the many people whom Florida would treat so unfairly, particularly due to growing anti-China animus over the last several years,” said Fabio Arcila, Jr., CALDA counsel and lead attorney on the case.
The original lawsuit can be viewed here.
The preliminary injunction order, as well as the earlier “Report and Recommendation” explaining the reasoning that was adopted by today’s order, can be viewed here.
