USCA11 Case: 20-12960 Date Filed: 11/23/2022 Page: 1 of 48 [PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 20-12960 ____________________ JAVIER GARCIA-BENGOCHEA, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus CARNIVAL CORPORATION, a foreign corporation d.b.a. Carnival Cruise Lines, Defendant-Appellee. ___________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:19-cv-21725-JLK ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-12960 Date Filed: 11/23/2022 Page: 2 of 48 2 Opinion of the Court 20-12960 ____________________ No. 20-14251 ____________________ JAVIER GARCIA-BENGOCHEA, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES, LTD., Defendant-Appellee. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:19-cv-23592-JLK ____________________ Before JORDAN and NEWSOM, Circuit Judges, and BURKE,* District Judge. *The Honorable Liles Burke, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama, sitting by designation. USCA11 Case: 20-12960 Date Filed: 11/23/2022 Page: 3 of 48 20-12960 Opinion of the Court 3 PER CURIAM: When Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959, most Cubans who fled to the United States hoped that they would one day return to their homeland. But many would never again see the beaches of Varadero or stroll along the Malecón. They built homes and lives in the United States, never forgetting what they left behind on an island just 90 miles off the coast of Key West. In 1996, Congress enacted the Cuban Liberty and Demo- cratic Solidarity Act, 22 U.S.C. §§ 6021 et seq. (known as the “Helms-Burton Act”), in an attempt to provide a means of com- pensation for some of the losses suffered as a result of the Castro regime’s actions. As relevant here, Title III of the Act provides a private cause of action for U.S. nationals against those who know- ingly traffic in property expropriated by the Cuban government af- ter the start of the Cuban Revolution. See § 6082(a)(1)(A). Title III remained dormant for 23 years, and through three different administrations, because it was suspended by Presidential decree. See § 6085(b)(1) (granting the President the authority to suspend the effective date of Title III if suspension is “necessary to the national interests of the United States”). But in May of 2019, President Trump lifted the suspension, making Title III fully effec- tive. President Biden, since taking office, has not suspended Title III and it therefore remains in effect today. This appeal concerns a number of issues pertaining to claims brought under Title III. First, does the plaintiff, Dr. Javier Garcia- USCA11 Case: 20-12960 Date Filed: 11/23/2022 Page: 4 of 48 4 Opinion of the Court 20-12960 Bengochea, have Article III standing to assert his claims against Carnival and Royal Caribbean? Second, has Dr. Garcia-Bengochea stated plausible Title III claims? We heard oral argument on these matters, invited the Department of Justice to file an amicus curiae brief addressing certain questions about the Act, and permitted the parties to respond to that brief. We conclude that Dr. Garcia-Bengochea has standing to as- sert his Title III claims, but that those claims fail on …
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