CAIR sues DeSantis over ‘terrorist’ label as Florida tests how far a governor can target Muslims

TALLAHASSEE, United States (MNTV) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations has sued Governor Ron DeSantis after he branded the Muslim civil rights group a domestic terrorist organization under a new Florida framework — a move CAIR calls an unconstitutional effort to shut down its advocacy.

DeSantis placed CAIR on the list as part of a broader state action against groups his administration claims pose security threats, raising the underlying question of whether a governor can unilaterally brand an advocacy organization as terrorist at all.

CAIR argues the designation violates freedom of speech, freedom of association, and due process, and inflicts immediate harm on its funding, reputation, and ability to operate in Florida. It is seeking an emergency order to halt enforcement while its challenge proceeds.

The designation rests on a law passed this year letting the governor identify “domestic terrorist organizations” for state purposes, triggering restrictions on public funding, contracts, and employment.

Terrorism designations have traditionally been a federal function subject to evidentiary standards and judicial review; Florida’s version lets a single elected official impose severe consequences with neither — an approach built for targeting groups by ideology.

DeSantis’s administration accuses CAIR of historical ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and hidden links to extremist networks.

CAIR rejects the accusations as a politically motivated attack on a nonprofit whose work is civil rights defense, public education, and interfaith engagement, and notes this is DeSantis’s second attempt — an earlier designation effort was blocked after CAIR challenged it in federal court.

The stakes reach past one organization.

Branding a Muslim civil rights group as terrorist stigmatizes an entire faith community and puts a state’s power behind the premise that Muslim advocacy is a security threat.

The case will test the limits of executive power and whether anti-terrorism machinery can be turned on constitutionally protected political and religious expression.