CAIR Suspends Florida Operations as ‘Terrorist’ Designation Takes Effect
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has suspended its operations in Florida after a federal judge declined to block the state’s designation of the Muslim civil rights group as a “domestic terrorist organisation”.
CAIR and its Florida chapter, CAIR-Florida, stopped their advocacy and legal services work in the state after the designation took effect on Thursday, 5 November. The group, the largest Muslim civil rights organisation in the United States, said it will appeal the ruling.
A notice posted on the door of CAIR-Florida’s headquarters in Tampa read: “We have suspended our operations in Florida because of Governor [Ron] DeSantis and other state officials’ baseless and unconstitutional enforcement of the state’s unprecedented new ‘domestic terrorist organization’ laws against us.”
A judge declines to intervene
The suspension followed a ruling on Wednesday night by Chief Judge Allen C. Winsor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He denied CAIR’s request to reverse the designation, finding that the groups were unlikely to succeed at this stage on their claims that the designations under HB 1471, a new state law, violate their due process and First Amendment rights.
The judge did grant one narrow form of preliminary relief, holding that Florida prosecutors cannot enforce the law’s penalties against the groups, their employees or third parties in connection with the provision of legal services.
Reuters reported that Judge Winsor described the Florida measure as “novel — and perhaps unprecedented”, but said CAIR had not shown that the designation amounted to a form of criminal punishment. The ruling does not resolve the case, address all of its claims, or make factual findings about the state’s allegations, which CAIR maintains are baseless.
A law signed in April
Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1471 in April. The law, which took effect on 1 July, gives the governor, members of his cabinet and the state’s chief of domestic security the power to designate organisations they determine engage in extremist acts as “terrorist organisations”. It also allows the expulsion of students who support designated groups.
On 29 September, DeSantis and the cabinet voted to designate more than 90 groups, including CAIR and CAIR-Florida. The designations were scheduled to take effect on 5 November, about a month after the groups received notice.
CAIR and CAIR-Florida challenged the designations in a lawsuit filed on 1 July, the day the law took effect. The groups are represented by the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the ACLU said they will appeal Judge Winsor’s decision.
Operations halted, donations paused
Religion News Service reported that CAIR-Florida shut down on Wednesday, a day before the designation took effect. Hiba Rahim, who was executive director of CAIR-Florida until it shut down, said the group “categorically rejects Florida officials’ baseless designation”.
The group also paused recurring donations on its platforms and urged supporters to cancel or pause automatic payments before 5 November. It told Florida residents not to join its mailing lists or otherwise engage with the organisation while the designation stands.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier welcomed the ruling. “This morning, a federal court upheld Florida’s Domestic Terrorist Organization law and rejected CAIR’s attempt to stop the designations,” he wrote on X on Thursday.
Texas had previously designated CAIR under its own state terrorism laws, according to reports of the Florida case.
What happens next
The legal challenge continues. The ACLU said the appeal will argue that five Florida executive officials now have the power to designate and debilitate American groups, including nonprofits engaged in First Amendment-protected advocacy, without filing charges, initiating judicial proceedings or proving their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
It is important to note that a state-level designation is not the same as a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization designation. Membership, religious affiliation, advocacy and peaceful dissent do not by themselves establish terrorism, and no charges have been filed against CAIR in connection with the Florida designation.
For now, Floridians who relied on CAIR-Florida for civil rights advocacy and legal help are without the organisation’s services in the state, while the courts decide whether the law that forced it to close can stand.
