"Abbott announced on Tuesday that he was designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as "foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations." His office said this allows the state attorney general to sue to shutter the groups and bans the groups from owning land in Texas."
"Only the U.S. Secretary of State can designate a group as a foreign terrorist organization, a process that requires the authorization of numerous other federal officials, and notification of Congress and the public. It's unclear if Abbott has the authority to undertake actions to enforce the designation, since states do not have the authority to make such a designation to begin with."
"In a radio interview on Tuesday, Abbott said that the designation was made explicitly to target Muslim groups. He touted other actions he's taken against Muslim constituents, like a law he recently signed to ban construction like a proposed development in North Texas that would include a mosque, housing, a faith school, and other community buildings, called EPIC City."
Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to be foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. Abbott's office said the designation would permit the state attorney general to sue to close the groups and bar them from owning land in Texas. Federal law vests foreign terrorist organization designations with the U.S. Secretary of State and requires authorization from multiple federal officials plus notification to Congress and the public. States lack statutory authority to make such designations, creating legal uncertainty about any state-level enforcement. Abbott framed the move as explicitly targeting Muslim groups and cited other actions such as restrictions tied to the EPIC City development.
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