New College of Florida’s recent firing of a Chinese professor under a contentious state law has drawn national attention and raised fresh concerns about academic freedom, xenophobia and the direction of higher education in Florida.

Professor Kevin Wang, a Chinese asylum seeker with work authorization in the United States, was abruptly dismissed last month under a 2023 state law known as SB 846 that restricts Florida’s public colleges and universities from hiring staff from China and other nations labeled “countries of concern.”

According to civil rights advocates and scholars, this appears to be the first time an asylum seeker has been removed from their position under the law.

The firing comes amid heightened U.S.–China tensions and growing scrutiny of Chinese nationals in American academic institutions.

But for students and observers of higher education, it signals something more immediate: a state-driven shift that may limit who can teach in public universities, threatening US scholarship.

“We see this trend, and a pattern of a less and less welcoming environment for Chinese students and international students overall,” said Gisela Kusakawa, the executive director of Asian American Scholar Forum.

Many Asian American scholars “came to the United States through the student visa pipeline, and so when we’re talking about maintaining US competitiveness and being able to foster and nurture the best and brightest talents, cutting off this pipeline would effectively make the United States less competitive.”

What is SB 846?

Signed into law less than two years ago, SB 846 limits public colleges and universities in Florida from entering into agreements with institutions affiliated with the governments of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela. It also goes a step further, restricting the ability of schools to simply hire employees from those countries who do not have a green card or full citizenship.

“Florida is taking action to stand against the United States’ greatest geopolitical threat — the Chinese Communist Party,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said when he signed the bill into law.

The law went into effect July 1, 2023, and is codified in Section 288.860 of the Florida Statutes. It includes a mechanism for exceptions, but only if such hires or partnerships are approved by the State University System’s Board of Governors.

Upon its passage, critics of the law focused on its impact on graduate students, who conduct research at Florida’s universities.

SB 846 has a disproportionate impact on Chinese academics. According to the Institute of International Education’s recent annual Open Doors Report, more than 4,300 students from China were enrolled in Florida colleges and universities during the 2023–24 academic year, the second-largest group of international students in the state after those from India.

The fifth largest group of international students also hail from a so-called country of concern –– Venezuela. Some 1,300 students from the South American nation studied in Florida last year, according to the report.

Altogether, the Florida university system last year educated nearly 45,000 international students who pumped an estimated $1.5 billion into the state economy, the report noted.

Legal challenges and comparisons to exclusion-era policies

Wang’s firing has become a flashpoint in a broader legal and civil rights battle over Florida’s restrictions on hiring foreign nationals in public higher education.

“The unconstitutional Florida law named in the firing of this Chinese professor at New College of Florida codifies anti-Asian discrimination,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said in a recent Facebook post. “It’s why we’re fighting it in court.”

Emily Le Coz

/

for Suncoast Searchlight

The ACLU of Florida is part of the legal team representing a University of Florida professor and two Chinese doctoral students who had been accepted to study and work at Florida International University in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 846.

The plaintiffs argue the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and is preempted by federal immigration and foreign affairs law.

They likened the law to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States during a period of widespread anti-Chinese sentiment.

On March 27 –– just two weeks after Wang’s firing –– a federal judge in Miami issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking enforcement of the law’s hiring restrictions as they apply to international students. The preliminary injunction applies to students statewide.

Florida has since appealed that injunction and filed a motion to put the judge’s ruling on hold.

While the ruling specifically addressed international students, it may lay the groundwork for further legal challenges from faculty members.

In an email to Suncoast Searchlight, Daniel Tilley, legal director of the ACLU of Florida and one of the attorneys in the case, said that professors like Wang “should have a similarly strong claim.”

Why this firing stands out

While Florida’s law has been on the books since mid-2023, Wang’s dismissal appears to be the first publicly known case in which it was used to terminate an asylum-seeking professor.

It also comes amid broader national efforts to detect foreign influence and espionage in U.S. research institutions — particularly from China.

During the first Trump administration, the federal government launched the “China Initiative,” a program intended to root out economic espionage but one that drew criticism for disproportionately targeting Asian American and Chinese scholars, often without clear evidence.

Civil rights watchdogs warned that the initiative could fuel anti-Asian prejudice. In at least one case, federal officials wrongly accused a Chinese-born scientist of espionage. Other scholars left the U.S., citing an atmosphere of fear and discrimination.

In one prominent case, a Florida researcher moved back to China, where he spearheaded the development of a rapid COVID-19 test.

The policy was lifted in 2022, but a new push by House Republicans to block Chinese nationals from studying at U.S. universities signals renewed hostility toward academics from China.

The crackdown on perceived foreign influence has been felt especially acutely in Florida, where state lawmakers also passed a measure in 2023 restricting Chinese citizens from purchasing property in the state. The measure, which is the subject of ongoing litigation, mirrors land and property ownership bans proposed by GOP-controlled statehouses across the country.

“Right now there’s a bigger concern that what is happening in Florida is just sort of a taste of what may happen nationally on a federal level,” said Kusakawa, of the Asian American Scholar forum.

“Scary,” “barbaric,” and deeply personal

Wang’s firing drew surprise and condemnation.

Rosie Levine, executive director of the US–China Education Trust, a Washington DC-based group focused on fostering academic exchange between the two countries, expressed alarm, describing the firing as “scary.”

“Academics, for the most part, just really want to comply but aren’t clear about how the regulations work,” Levine said, noting that it’s “extremely terrifying for their professors who are probably in similar situations, like this example, and saying, ‘I don’t want to be in the same position, but I don’t know how to comply.’”

Kusakawa, of the Asian American Scholar Forum, noted the irony in Wang’s firing, given his open criticism of the Chinese government.

“Here you have someone that is anti-CCP vocally, to their detriment,” said Kusakawa, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. In the United States, she added, Wang “should be getting sanctuary.”

A student in Wang’s class at New College told Suncoast Searchlight that the dismissal felt abrupt and wrong.

“It was barbaric,” said the student, who asked to remain anonymous, citing fear of reprisal from the college, which has a precedent of cracking down on student dissent.

In 2024, the school punished students who protested its administration during graduation.

“You could say the feeling is grief, or something like that,” the student said. “I mean, first you’re shocked, and then you get angry, then sad and everything. At this point, it’s been a couple of weeks, and I’m just moving on. I’ve accepted it.”

This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.