CAIR Florida unit closes — for now — due to new state law

The Council on American-Islamic relations has shuttered its operations in Florida. The closure came after a federal court denied its bid to overturn the state’s assertion the civil rights group and its state chapter are terrorist organizations.

Represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, CAIR and CAIR-Florida immediately appealed a divided Nov. 4 ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee.

While not yet ruling on the merits of the case — which includes First Amendment free speech claims — Windsor concluded the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed at overturning the terrorist designation under a new state law.

Plaintiffs and their attorneys are “dismayed” by the ruling, said Scott McCoy, deputy legal director at SPLC. “A law that allows officials unjustly to brand a civil rights nonprofit with such a grievous label and expose it, and anyone who supports it, to life in prison with no hearing and no trial threatens every Floridian’s constitutional rights.”

The case stems from House Bill 1471, a law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in April giving state officials the authority to label targeted organization as threats without judicial proceedings or having to provide evidence of actual terrorist activities.

The law followed the governor’s 2025 executive order accusing CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood of being part of a network of terrorists operating in the U.S. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a similar proclamation in 2025 that CAIR also challenged.

In July, DeSantis announced he was designating CAIR, the Brotherhood and anti-fascist groups collectively known as “antifa” as promoters of “radical terrorist ideologies” in Florida.

The determination means CAIR and its state chapter have lost constitutionally protected free-speech and due-process rights in Florida and could be subject to severe punishment, including life in prison, under HB-1471.

CAIR sued in the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida to challenge the designation in July but closed its Florida operations Nov. 5 after Windsor refused to issue a preliminary injunction protecting the groups as litigation progresses.

In his ruling, Windsor wrote that the plaintiffs were correct in calling the Florida law “novel — and perhaps unprecedented” because it is usually the federal government that designates terrorist organizations. The U.S. government has not designated CAIR as a terrorist organization.

Windsor added that even the state admitted to the novelty of its scheme. “Still, the Constitution does not prohibit legislation simply because it is novel.”

Nor is the issue at stake whether CAIR really is or isn’t a terrorist organization, according to Windsor’s opinion.

“Again, plaintiffs claim the state reached the wrong decision on that score —and that it violated their 14th Amendment rights in reaching its decision without providing due process. But plaintiffs do not assert any standalone constitutional right to a factually correct decision on the question of whether they are terrorist organizations.”

The law and its penalties have alarming similarities to those in authoritarian countries where governments can punish dissent without due process protections for the accused, said Hiba Rahim, executive director of CAIR-Florida.

“Gov. DeSantis and other officials have unilaterally branded Muslim nonprofits as ‘terrorist,’ with devastating consequences for our rights, our supporters and the communities we serve,” she said. “CAIR-Florida categorically rejects Florida officials’ baseless designation of us. Nevertheless, we are heartbroken that we have no choice but to close our doors to protect our staff and people of all faiths who support our work.”

As a civil rights organization, CAIR provides pro bono legal representation to Florida residents, including to Muslims subjected to workplace and government discrimination.

“Today, for the first time in over 20 years, Florida Muslims cannot call their community’s leading civil rights organization for help if they experience a hate crime at their mosque, illegal discrimination in the workplace, violent bullying in school or any other acts of bigotry,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director for CAIR. “The unprecedented notion that Gov. DeSantis has the power to punish an American civil rights organization for its speech and unilaterally force the closure of its doors without due process is an affront to the Constitution.”

The ACLU argued that the terrorist designation is particularly unjustified because neither CAIR nor its Florida chapter ever have been charged with or convicted of a crime, including terrorism.

“Today’s decision upholds state officials’ sweeping power to punish American organizations they brand as ‘terrorist,’ without due process and in violation of the First Amendment,” said Ashley Gorski, senior counsel with the ACLU National Security Project.

“Florida officials have been relentless in seeking to silence our clients’ civil rights work and advocacy, damaging not only them but also their community. We cannot allow this dangerous and sweeping censorship regime to stand,” Gorski said.

 

Related:

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