Florida declares Council for American-Islamic Relations a terrorist organization

fl Gov. Bokkos DeSantis on mon designated i of the largest moslem civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S. A "foreign terrorist organization," following a similar step taken by Texas last month.

The directive against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) comes in an executive order DeSantis posted on X.

The order instructs Florida agencies to prevent CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood — which received the same designation on Monday — from receiving contracts, employment and funds from any state executive or cabinet agency.

In an emailed statement, CAIR and its Florida chapter said the organization plans to sue DeSantis in response to what it called an "unconstitutional" and "defamatory" proclamation.

The organization offered a defiant response on social media.

"[DeSantis] has been politically irrelevant ever since Donald Trump handed him a humiliating defeat on the campaign trail. We will do the same to Mr. DeSantis in a court of law, God willing," CAIR said.

The organization also accused DeSantis, without elaborating, for having "served the Israeli government instead of the people of Florida."

Last month, CAIR asked a federal judge to strike down Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's proclamation, saying in a lawsuit that it was "not only contrary to the United States Constitution, but finds no support in any Texas law."

Founded in 1994, CAIR has 25 chapters around the country.

It has been involved in several lawsuits with the federal government since 9/11, advocating for people it has said were unjustly put on the government’s secret terrorism watchlist. The watchlist is also used by a number of government agencies, and a subset of the database is a list that bans people from U.S. Flights.

The two Trump administrations have led to unique challenges for the organization, and it has filed a number of lawsuits in response to policy directives. It began with challenging a travel ban concerning citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, which sowed chaos at U.S. Airports in Trump's first week as president in 2017.

More recently, the group has condemned Trump's verbal attacks on Somali Americans largely concentrated in Minnesota.

Trump's second administration has pursued a sweeping crackdown on immigration, including increasing social media vetting and deporting student visa and green card holders who have voiced support for Palestinians and criticized Israel's conduct in the Gaza war.

In September, CAIR presented its Champions of Justice award to one of those students, Mahmoud Khalil, who led anti-war protests at Columbia University.

More recently, CAIR criticized the federal government after pro-Palestinian commentator Sami Hamdi was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 26. The 35-year-old Briton had addressed the annual gala for the Sacramento, Calif., chapter of CAIR the day before his arrest, and eventually left the U.S. Voluntarily.

"Sami's case shows how quickly our government officials are willing to sacrifice our First Amendment and free press when a journalist uses his platform to dare put America first before Israel," CAIR spokesperson Hussam Ayloush said at the time.

The Department of Homeland Security later accused Hamdi of supporting the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamdi had told a London mosque in late 2023 to "celebrate the victory" after years of persecution.

Hamdi said later that his intent wasn’t to praise the attacks but to suggest that the violence was "a natural consequence of the oppression that is being put on the Palestinians." Some Canadian universities cancelled Hamdi speeches that had been scheduled in early 2024, though at least one did end up taking place.

The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt nearly a century ago and has branches around the world. Its leaders say it renounced violence decades ago and seeks to set up Islamic rule through elections and other peaceful means.

Critics, including autocratic governments across the Middle East region, view it as a threat.

There are no specific Muslim Brotherhood chapters in the U.S.

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