Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet voted Tuesday to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), its Florida chapter, the Muslim Brotherhood and antifa as domestic terrorist organizations, alongside more than 90 groups already on the federal foreign terrorist list, including al-Qaeda, Iran's IRGC, the Houthis and Mexican drug cartels. The designations, made under new state law HB 1471, are set to take effect Nov. 5 and could strip groups of public funding and contracts, force dissolution, and impose criminal penalties for material support, with added consequences for Florida schools and colleges.

CAIR and civil-liberties groups, including the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center, are challenging the action in federal court, arguing it violates First and Fourteenth Amendment protections and lacks evidence of violent conduct. A prior DeSantis executive order against CAIR was previously blocked by a federal judge. State officials, including Attorney General James Uthmeier, defend the designations as necessary to cut off funding to groups they say support terrorism. The legal fight is expected to intensify before the November effective date.

Southern Methodist University has canceled plans to host the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium, a civic engagement event for high school and college students, citing Gov. Greg Abbott's November designation of CAIR as a "foreign terrorist organization." The designation stems from Texas Senate Bill 1900, a 2023 law originally framed as targeting cartel networks, which allows the governor to label groups as foreign terrorist organizations and subjects their property to seizure and their members to enhanced criminal penalties and state surveillance.

CAIR has never been criminally charged and does not operate outside the U.S., but Abbott's declaration cites the group's alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood and a 2009 terrorism financing case. CAIR is challenging the designation in court and is seeking a new venue for the September conference. Florida enacted a similar designation against CAIR in December, restricting the group's access to state funds. Civil liberties advocates warn such laws, now present in 32 states, raise First Amendment concerns and risk chilling free speech and campus discourse.