CAIR to sue Ron DeSantis over foreign terrorist organization designation

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced that it plans to sue Gov. Ron DeSantis after the Republican governor issued an executive order designating the embattled group a “foreign terrorist organization.”

Hiba Rahim, CAIR-Florida’s deputy executive director, said at a Tampa news conference last week that the order from DeSantis was rooted in “conspiracy theories” and compared it to past episodes in US history when Jewish, Irish, and Italian American communities were collectively targeted before claiming it would be seeking a “specific list of Israel First advocacy groups involved in campaigns against Muslim or Palestinian rights organizations” and communications with “Representatives or officials of the Government of Israel.”

Rahim suggested the designation was driven by CAIR’s attacks on Israel, arguing that the group’s activism had caused “discomfort” for a close US ally.

DeSantis defended the order, saying his administration had ample justification and welcomed CAIR’s threat of litigation. “This is a long time coming,” DeSantis told reporters, adding that the executive action was only the beginning. He said he expects Florida lawmakers to pursue follow-up legislation when the legislature reconvenes in January.

The order also designates the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization and bars Florida state agencies from awarding contracts, employment, or public funds to CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, or any entity deemed to have materially supported them.

The move follows a similar proclamation issued by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who classified CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist and transnational criminal organizations and barred them from purchasing land in Texas. Abbott has publicly welcomed lawsuits from CAIR, saying litigation would expose the group’s finances and operations. CAIR has challenged the Texas designation in federal court.

While such state-level designations do not carry the same legal force as federal Foreign Terrorist Organization classifications, authority reserved for the US State Department, they represent an unprecedented attempt by governors to restrict the activities of a major national nonprofit.

The legal battle unfolds against the backdrop of years of controversy surrounding CAIR. In the Holy Land Foundation case, the largest terrorism-financing trial in US history, federal prosecutors identified CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator after the foundation was convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organization. CAIR disputes the implications of that designation and says the case has been misused to smear the group.

More recently, CAIR has drawn renewed scrutiny after its executive director, Nihad Awad, said in November 2023 that he was “happy” to see Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, remarks that were condemned by members of Congress and Jewish organizations as glorifying terrorism.

At CAIR’s anniversary gala in Washington, DC, the organization honored Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University activist accused of organizing Hamas-aligned campus protests and participating in the violent takeover of Hamilton Hall. Khalil was detained by immigration authorities and ordered deported by a federal judge, but CAIR named him its 2025 “Champion of Justice.”

CAIR has also faced criticism over revelations that its California chapter distributed $1,000 payments to student activists disciplined for anti-Israel campus protests through a “Champions of Justice Fund.”

Republican lawmakers have since intensified calls for federal scrutiny. Sen. Tom Cotton has urged the IRS to review CAIR’s tax-exempt status, citing alleged ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Rep. Elise Stefanik has requested a Treasury Department investigation into whether CAIR’s funding violates US sanctions, and Rep. Chip Roy has called for stripping tax-exempt status from nonprofits with terror-linked associations.