Texas governor declares U.S. Muslim civil rights group a foreign terrorist organization

"In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has launched a campaign against the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. He has declared that the Muslim civil rights group is a foreign terrorist organization. Syed al-Ferdous attends services at the Maryam Islamic Center in Sugar Land, southwest of Houston, every evening. Al-Ferdous says Governor Abbott's calling CAIR a terrorist organization shows a lack of education about Islam. SYED AL-FERDOUS: I think it's very juvenile, to say the least. It's very immature, and it just doesn't hold any water."

"That's a question Kenneth Williams, who teaches constitutional and civil rights law at Texas Tech University, says cuts directly to the heart of whether Abbott has the authority to go after CAIR. KENNETH WILLIAMS: If they're not operating outside the United States, then it would seem like this designation is illegal and not authorized under the statute. SCHNEIDER: Declaring an entity a foreign terrorist organization is exclusively the purview of the U.S. State Department."

Governor Greg Abbott designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a foreign terrorist organization under a 2023 Texas law and ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to open criminal investigations. Abbott accused CAIR of attempting to forcibly impose sharia law. Legal experts note that designation of foreign terrorist organizations is reserved for the U.S. State Department, raising questions about the legality of a state-level designation. Muslim community members and civil rights advocates describe the move as juvenile and baseless. The designation affects more than 300,000 Muslims in Texas and raises concerns about profiling and civil liberties.

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