MIAMI– Two graduate students from China whose studies were suspended and a professor who says he cannot recruit research assistants sued Florida education officials on Monday in an effort to block enforcement of a new state law limiting research exchanges between state universities and academics. from seven banned countries.
The law, passed last year by Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, was intended to prevent the Chinese communist government and others from gaining influence over the state’s public colleges and universities. The countries on the banned list are China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria and Venezuela.
The law is discriminatory, unconstitutional and reminiscent of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which imposed a 10-year ban on Chinese workers from immigrating to the United States, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami.
The new law also usurps the power of the federal government, which has exclusive jurisdiction over immigration, national security and foreign affairs, the lawsuit said.
The law forced two of the plaintiffs, who are from China, to abandon their studies at Florida International University and denied them access to their research labs. The University of Florida professor, who is also originally from China, said the law prevents him from recruiting the most qualified postdoctoral candidates to help with his research, which the lawsuit alleges has slowed his publication productivity and research projects.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs said they are not members of the Chinese government or the Communist Party.
The law allows international students from the banned countries to be hired on a case-by-case basis with the approval of the Board of Governors that oversees state universities or the State Board of Education, but the lawsuit says the law is “vague and flawed” adequate guidance encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement throughout Florida.”
The law “has and will have far-reaching stigmatizing effects on individuals of Chinese and Asian descent seeking academic employment at public universities and colleges in Florida, including claimants, as Florida law now presumptively considers them a danger to the United States.” the lawsuit said.
The governor’s office and the Department of Education did not respond to emails seeking comment.