CAIR to Sue Florida Governor After Being Labeled ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’

CAIR to Sue Florida Governor After Being Labeled ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’
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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, announced plans to file a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after he issued an executive order this week designating the organization as a “foreign terrorist organization,” CAIR officials said Tuesday.

According to Al Jazeera, the executive order, announced on December 8 and shared on social media, also names the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist group and directs Florida state agencies to bar CAIR and associated entities from receiving state contracts, employment or funding.

CAIR’s Florida chapter says the order exceeds the governor’s legal authority, because only the US federal government has the power to designate groups as foreign terrorist organizations under national law. Neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood currently holds that designation federally.

At a press conference in Tampa, Hiba Rahim, interim executive director of CAIR-Florida, called the designation “defamatory and unconstitutional” and said the lawsuit will seek to block the order. The group also criticized the move as politically motivated and likely to fuel Islamophobia.

Governor DeSantis defended the action, telling reporters he “welcomes” the lawsuit and expects state lawmakers to consider follow-up legislation in the upcoming session. His executive order alleges ties between CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist organizations, including references to past terrorism cases, though the group denies any such connections.

The Florida action follows a similar designation by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in November, which CAIR has already challenged in federal court. CAIR leaders say state-level actions risk eroding civil liberties and targeting advocacy groups based on political views rather than concrete evidence of terrorist activity.

CAIR, founded in 1994 with chapters across the United States, says the designation does not immediately affect its operations but could have broader consequences for Muslim communities nationwide.