{"id":3569,"date":"2026-07-01T21:36:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=3569"},"modified":"2026-07-01T21:36:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:36:42","slug":"desantis-recommends-muslim-group-cair-be-labeled-a-terrorist-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=3569","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis recommends Muslim group CAIR be labeled a \u2018terrorist\u2019 organization"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SUNRISE, Fla. \u2014 On its website, the Council on American-Islamic Relations describes itself as \u201cAmerica\u2019s largest Muslim civil liberties organization\u201d and a \u201cgrassroots civil rights and advocacy group.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/p>\n

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced his intent to recommend CAIR be formally designated on a state list as a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to draw a very strong line in the sand here,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n

Signed in April, the governor\u2019s office says HB 1471 allows the state to designate terrorist organizations, announcing an \u201cintent to designate\u201d list that includes CAIR, which DeSantis said would prevent \u201cforeign and extremist influence from taking root in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is, I think, what the people of Florida expected when I signed this law, which took effect today,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n

Back in April, representatives for CAIR Florida told Local 10 News they opposed the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a dark day for the Florida Constitution and the United States Constitution,\u201d Wilfredo Ruiz, the communications director for CAIR Florida, said at the time.<\/p>\n

Omar Saleh, an attorney for CAIR Florida, said in April that \u201cpeople don\u2019t become a security risk just because you don\u2019t like them and you don\u2019t agree with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor said organizations designated under Florida law may also be subject to dissolution as provided by statute.<\/p>\n

DeSantis said upon confirmation by the Florida Cabinet, individuals who \u201cknowingly\u201d provide material support or resources to organizations designated under the new statutory authority as terrorist organizations could face criminal penalties.<\/p>\n

State and local governments will be prohibited from providing the groups taxpayer funding and contracts.<\/p>\n

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Public schools and colleges will also be prohibited from using public resources to support or promote the organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will impact Florida\u2019s K-12 school choice scholarship,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cI am not sending scholarships to schools that are in cahoots with groups like CAIR. That is not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida is not the free state that it says it is, especially when you look at laws like this,\u201d Saleh said in April. \u201cIt\u2019s baloney.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December, DeSantis signed an executive order that resulted in litigation. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is being challenged under the First Amendment right now,\u201d legal analyst Bill Barner said. \u201cCAIR had a district court block the executive order, now the governor is taking to Federal Circuit of Appeals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barner, a criminal defense attorney and ex-prosecutor who teaches at Nova Southeastern University, said, the district judge found that the governor \u201cshouldn\u2019t have the power to be able to do that and also suspects that this was politically motivated \u2015 that it\u2019s political theater.”<\/p>\n

Court records show a bench trial has been scheduled to start this upcoming January.<\/p>\n

Barner said DeSantis \u201chas announced that he plans on using the litigation, the discovery process behind the litigation, to try to find proof of what they\u2019re alleging \u2015 that there are ties with Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

An attorney from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is representing CAIR, said in a statement to Local 10 News that it, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups \u201clook forward to responding in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of what Gov. DeSantis thinks, the U.S. Constitution is supreme across our nation, including in Florida,\u201d Scott McCoy, the SPLC\u2019s deputy legal director, said. \u201cGov. DeSantis is seeking to unilaterally silence a leading American civil rights nonprofit and punish those who support it.\u201c <\/p>\n

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Court filings:<\/b><\/p>\n