Gov. DeSantis signs into law cracking down on foreign influence from "countries of concern" including Cuba

A bill limiting foreign influence from "countries of concern," including adding penalties for businesses and prohibiting surrogacy contracts with Chinese nationals, was signed into law Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Foreign Interference Restriction and Enforcement (FIRE) Act will "combat pernicious foreign influence" in Florida, DeSantis said.

Before DeSantis signed the bill at the Bay of Pigs Museum & Library in Miami, he took time to comment on Cuba, saying Florida needs a "good neighbor" 90 miles from its shores.

"It is time for the Cuban communist dictatorship to be out to pasture once and for all," DeSantis said.

The new law (HB 905) bars the state from giving or receiving money from a terrorist organization and establishes a state designation for domestic and foreign terrorist groups.

Current state law lists China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria as foreign "countries of concern." Under the new law, adoption and surrogacy if any party in the contract is a citizen or a resident of a foreign country of concern will be prohibited.

The provision, added late in the legislative process, drew criticism from Democrats, who argued it could have unintended consequences for parents trying to adopt children from foreign countries.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, said the legislation addressed serious national and state security risks and referred to countries like China entering in surrogacy contracts with American citizens.

"We must remain vigilant and continue to make sure that we protect our great state of Florida from attack by our foreign enemies," Persons-Mulicka said. "The FIRE Act tells them we are paying attention and think twice before targeting our great state."

Persons-Mulicka cited the case of a Chinese billionaire who reports say has had over 100 children born in the United States through surrogacy and in-vitro fertilization.

"It's a really seedy thing," DeSantis said. "We're hoping that the Supreme Court is going to interpret the 14th Amendment so that we can put a stop to some of the people that are coming here for a month, having birth, and then going back to China," he added, referring to a court case challenging President Donald Trump's executive order nixing birthright citizenship.

The new law also adds restrictions to K-12 and higher education institutions, prohibiting school voucher funds from going to any school that promotes or that is affiliated with a terrorist organization.

While the bill adds penalties to businesses if they conduct unlawful activity in Cuba, it also has a measure to allow companies to do business with the island nation if its diplomatic relations with the U.S. are changed.

"If Cuba was free, it would be an amazingly successful country," DeSantis said.

Cuba has been ruled by a communist leader since 1959, and many Cubans fled the regime, making their home in South Florida, especially Miami, in the decades since.

The law takes effect July 1.