Texas Governor Abbott Labels CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Groups, Sparks Legal and Public Backlash
CAIR denounces the move as unlawful and discriminatory as Muslim organizations vow legal action and highlight rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in Texas
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Republican) signed on Tuesday a declaration designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations in Texas.
Abbott said in a statement: “The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to impose Islamic Sharia law by force and establish the ‘supremacy of Islam over the world.’”
He added that “the actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism worldwide and undermine our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable.”
It is worth noting that CAIR is a Muslim civil rights organization focused on advocacy. The organization responded to Abbott’s move with a fiery statement threatening to exercise its legal right to challenge the declaration if it becomes policy.
CAIR Rejects Abbott’s Designation as baseless and politically motivated
In a statement to The Texas Tribune, CAIR said: “Although we are flattered by Greg Abbott’s obsession with our civil rights organization, his publicity stunt disguised as a declaration has no basis in reality or law.”
They added: “By smearing a prominent American Muslim institution with false conspiracy theories and fabricated claims, Mr. Abbott has once again shown that his top priority is promoting anti-Muslim bigotry — not serving the people of Texas.”
The Muslim Brotherhood is a transnational Sunni Islamic organization founded in Egypt that now provides social services such as pharmacies, hospitals, and schools, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The group has been linked to previous incidents of violence, although its founders denounced the brutal attacks of the 1970s.
According to The Hill, the U.S. Department of State does not list the Muslim Brotherhood or CAIR as terrorist organizations.
Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) reintroduced a bill in June seeking to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group following the Boulder, Colorado attack carried out by Mohamed Suleiman, who openly supported the Brotherhood on his social media accounts.
Abbott’s declaration in Texas continues to affect both groups, prohibiting them — and any companies or individuals associated with them — from purchasing land in the Lone Star State.
Abbott said in Tuesday’s statement: “These extremists are not welcome in our state and are now barred from acquiring any real estate interest in Texas.”
CAIR Response
CAIR announced that it sent an official response letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott strongly condemning his declaration, describing it as “defamatory” and “without basis in law or reality.”
In the letter, CAIR wrote to Abbott that his declaration does not have “the authority to unilaterally designate any Americans or American institutions as terrorist groups.”
Earlier in the day, CAIR National and CAIR Texas issued a public response affirming that their civil rights work in Texas would continue uninterrupted.
The letter also states that “CAIR is an independent American nonprofit organization operating under federal, state, and local laws,” and that CAIR “is not — and has never been — a member, chapter, branch, or affiliate of any foreign organization.”
The letter documents CAIR’s 30-year record of condemning and advocating against “anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and terrorism.”
Addressing Abbott directly, CAIR wrote that his office “has spent months inflaming anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government,” adding: “We have successfully sued you three different times for violating the First Amendment on behalf of the Israeli government, and we are prepared to do so again if you attempt to turn this publicity stunt into actual policy.”
CAIR concluded the letter by reaffirming its commitment to “opposing all forms of bigotry, speaking out against injustice here and abroad, and defending constitutional protections for free speech.”
CAIR also noted that this is not the first time Abbott has attempted — and failed — to weaponize Texas law against Muslim nonprofit organizations.
Abbott also shared offensive content from the account of Amy Mek, an anti-Muslim extremist, before deleting it, and then shared content from another extremist claiming that Islam is a “radical ideology.”
Mikelburg, known for her anti-Muslim content, has previously encouraged her followers to support a figure who endorses white supremacy and antisemitic beliefs.
