Florida Law Labels CAIR and Others as Terrorist Organizations

On 1 July 2026, Florida’s HB 1471 took effect, granting Governor Ron DeSantis authority to label organizations as “terrorist”. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement processes recommendations; the governor announced that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood and the anti-fascist movement antifa were designated, barring state funding, contracts and imposing criminal penalties for material support. DeSantis has recommended 90 groups for designation, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua and Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel.

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The governor said the law “directs state agencies to eliminate the influence of radical terrorist ideologies and organizations operating in Florida” and that “state and local governments will be prohibited from providing taxpayer funding or contracts to designated organizations.” The FDLE will establish “a formal terrorist designation process” and enforce “criminal penalties for providing material support.”

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CAIR, with the ACLU and SPLC, filed an emergency injunction arguing the designation “opens up CAIR to immediate and irreparable harm, including the shuttering of all their operations and advocacy in the state.” They say the statute “contains no requirement that notice to the designated group include all the reasons for the designation…does not require the State to prove…that the organization violated any law.” Critics call the measure “extraordinarily broad and severe” and warn it could silence nonprofit advocacy.

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Sources differ on the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence: one claim notes “no known operation in the US or a centralized headquarters globally,” while other reports cite its terrorist designation by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and U.S. federal listings. The law’s lack of a mandated evidentiary standard for designations creates uncertainty about factual basis for labeling CAIR and other groups.

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• “The designation opens up Cair to "immediate and irreparable harm, including the shuttering of all their operations and advocacy in the state", the group said in a statement.” — CAIR, statement

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• “Officials can brand nonprofit corporations with debilitating stigma and then use an array of state authorities to immediately silence and incapacitate the organization, its employees, its members, and a wide range of others associated with the group through extraordinarily broad and severe criminal, civil, and administrative penalties,” — CAIR, statement

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• “The question before this Court is whether the Governor can, in a non-emergency situation, unilaterally designate one of the largest Muslim civil rights groups in America as a ‘terrorist organization’ and withhold government benefits from anyone providing material support or resources to the group,” — Judge Mark Walker

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• “None at all,” — Nathan Brown, professor of Middle East politics

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CAIR seeks an emergency injunction to stop enforcement of HB 1471, a case that will examine the constitutionality of Florida’s designation process and its First Amendment compatibility. Pending resolution, state agencies must pause funding or contracts with the designated groups.

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