What’s Happening
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently issued an order baselessly and unlawfully declaring CAIR Florida as a foreign terrorist organization. His proclamation follows a similar political move by Texas Governor Greg Abbott late last month, targeting CAIR Texas.
Both actions are part of an Islamophobic smear campaign by Israel-first politicians and individuals in response to rising anti-genocide sentiment over the past two years and represent yet another attempt by elected officials to chill free speech and silence legitimate criticism of the state of Israel.
Governors Abbott and DeSantis’ actions have no basis in law or fact. CAIR and its local chapters are American nonprofit organizations that operate in full compliance with federal, state, and local laws.
What This Designation Means
These designations attempt to unlawfully:
- Prevent CAIR-FL and CAIR-TX from receiving any contract, employment, funds, or other benefits from the state government.
- Encourage law enforcement scrutiny.
- Set a dangerous precedent for state-level blacklisting.
These proclamations do not directly impact CAIR National, its other chapters, such as CAIR-CA, or the California Muslim community.
Anti-Muslim Bigotry
These baseless proclamations are part of a coordinated, unconstitutional, and defamatory attack on the entire American Muslim community—not just CAIR’s chapters in Texas and Florida.
Under the Trump administration, we have seen a disturbing rise in politicians using their dangerous Israel-first ideology to silence legitimate criticism of a genocidal foreign government and trample the constitutional rights of our communities.
It sets a dangerous precedent for the government to use anti-Muslim bigotry to further an agenda that places foreign interests above the constitutional principles that American democracy is founded on.
Fighting Back With Legal Action
In response to the false claims, CAIR’s legal team announced that it filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and intends to file against Gov. DeSantis to block the enforcement of the proclamations.
CAIR also previously sent a letter to Gov. Abbott rebutting his false claims about CAIR and detailing the organization’s three-decade record of both defending civil rights in the U.S. and condemning all forms of unjust violence. The letter also cites numerous rulings and independent reports debunking efforts to smear CAIR.
Our Commitment
We stand firmly with CAIR-FL and CAIR-TX as they fight back against this baseless smear campaign and hold these governors accountable for their abuse of power, and we reaffirm our commitment to protecting the rights, freedom, and dignity of the American Muslim community.
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