Among a coalition of leading civil rights scholars, Leo Yu filed an amicus curiae brief with the Eighth Circuit in support of a constitutional challenge to Arkansas’s alien land laws that target Asian immigrants.
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Among a coalition of leading civil rights scholars, legal advocates, and nonprofit organizations, Leo Yu filed an amicus curiae brief on August 25, 2025 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of a constitutional challenge to Arkansas’s alien land laws—Act 636 and Act 174. These laws restrict land ownership by “foreign parties” or “foreign-party businesses,” raising significant constitutional concerns.
The amicus brief supports the lawsuit Jones Eagle LLC v. Ward, in which the plaintiffs challenge the enforcement of Arkansas’s alien land laws. The lawsuit was filed against the State of Arkansas and several of its officials involved in implementing these laws. The case arose after the Arkansas Agriculture Secretary’s Office referred a U.S. citizen—originally from China—for investigation, alleging that his business violated the new foreign ownership laws. This referral occurred despite the business owner having submitted proof of his U.S. citizenship and documentation of his company’s operations. In December 2024, the District Court issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the laws, and the State of Arkansas has appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
In addition to Professor Yu, this amicus brief was co-authored by Jeffrey T. Green, Green Lauerman Chartered PLLC, Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin, University of California, Davis School of Law, Professor Rose Cuison-Villazor, Rutgers Law School Newark, and Professor Matthew Erie, American University Washington College of Law. This amicus brief aligns with Yu’s scholarly focus on the Equal Protection Clause’s application to Asian immigrants. His recent publication, Reviving Exclusion, specifically addressed the alien land law’s legacy and its dangerous revival trend, and his scholarship served as one of the core theoretical supports to this amicus brief.
The amicus brief is joined by more than twenty racial justice centers and civil rights organizations across the nation. Jones Eagle LLC v. Ward represents a broader national conversation around laws that unjustly target immigrant communities based on nationality or origin. The signatories emphasize that Arkansas’s laws—like others before them—revive dangerous patterns of historical exclusion that have no place in today’s world.