“This prohibition blatantly violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against discrimination,” Judge Nancy Abudu wrote.

A federal appeals court blocked a controversial Florida law restricting Chinese citizens from buying land from being enforced against two people who sued the state, with one judge saying the law “blatantly violates” protections against discrimination.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Thursday said the Chinese immigrant plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, have shown a “substantial likelihood of success” in proving their case against the 2023 state law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

One of the appeals court judges, Nancy Abudu, a former civil rights lawyer appointed by President Joe Biden, said the anti-Chinese statements of Florida officials about the legislation “establish that the law is a blanket ban against Chinese non-citizens from purchasing land within the state.”

“This prohibition blatantly violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against discrimination,” Abudu wrote.