Islam in the United States

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has repeated his assertion that Israel is "not actually our friend," making the case in interviews with ABC News and MS NOW ahead of his final debate against Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed argues Israel has lobbied the U.S. into conflicts, including pushing for action against Iran, and accused the Israeli military of war crimes. He has also faced criticism for deflecting questions about alleged family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and past appearances with controversial streamer Hasan Piker. At the debate in Detroit, El-Sayed also opposed the SAVE America Act's voter ID and citizenship-proof requirements, calling them voter suppression, while Rogers defended the measure as reasonable. The race remains competitive ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation making California the second state, after Washington in 2025, to formally recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays, joining Lunar New Year and Diwali on the state's holiday calendar. The move affects California's more than 1 million Muslim residents, allowing state employees to use existing paid time off to observe the holidays, which mark the end of Ramadan and honor Abraham's devotion to God, respectively. Because Muslims follow a lunar calendar, the dates shift yearly; Eid al-Fitr is expected around March 10 and Eid al-Adha around May 17 next year.

The law does not mandate statewide school closures, but allows local districts to declare days off if communities request it, and lets students cite state law when absent for the holidays. Advocates, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations' California chapter, framed the recognition as validating Muslim identity amid rising scrutiny of the community, citing a recent Pew survey showing 42% of Americans view Muslim Americans negatively.

Massachusetts lawmakers are considering companion bills (H.3351/S.2134) to create a permanent state commission focused on Muslim residents' interests, including recommending Muslim appointees for government boards. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a candidate for Alabama governor, publicly rejected the idea on X, saying no similar measure would pass in Alabama under his watch.

The response has fueled broader commentary urging Tuberville to go further than a social media post, proposing that Alabama pursue legislation asserting the state's Protestant Christian heritage and testing constitutional limits on religious liberty, drawing comparisons to past Alabama fights over Ten Commandments displays and local zoning disputes involving Muslim institutions, such as a withdrawn rezoning request in Hoover. Proponents frame this as a "history and tradition" argument akin to reasoning used in other Supreme Court cases, while acknowledging existing First Amendment doctrine sharply limits what any state could actually enact. The episode highlights ongoing national tension over religious identity, government recognition of minority faiths, and the boundaries of state authority.

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.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered a halt to all state funding for Flock Safety license-plate cameras, escalating a national backlash against the surveillance network. His office said state agencies are clarifying that funds cannot be used for Flock cameras, a decision that came as the Texas Tribune prepared an investigation into a 2023 legislative auto-insurance fee hike that funded roughly 3,200 Flock cameras statewide. The move follows vandalism of Houston-area cameras, an indicted Lufkin officer accused of misusing Flock data on 100 counts, and the arrest of a former Katy officer accused of using the data to stalk his ex-wife. League City recently became the first Texas city to put its Flock contract to a public vote.

The Texas action joins a growing list of jurisdictions curbing Flock use, including Tempe, St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Summit County and multiple Minnesota and Iowa cities, amid Sen. Josh Hawley's Senate investigation into the roughly 120,000-camera network. Flock has added privacy safeguards, including shorter video retention and suspicious-search detection, while defending the technology as a key public safety tool amid ongoing misuse and data-sharing concerns.