CAIR's Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin chapters filed a federal lawsuit challenging Gov. Greg Abbott's proclamation that labeled the organization a 'foreign terrorist organization' and blocked it from purchasing land in Texas. The suit argues the declaration violates the U.S. Constitution and relies on unverified and selective statements. The Muslim Legal Fund of America joined CAIR's defense, calling the proclamation unconstitutional and a threat to due process. The dispute follows earlier scrutiny of a Muslim-centered planned community near Dallas that drew and later closed a federal civil rights inquiry.
CAIR Sues Texas After Abbott Labels It a 'Foreign Terrorist Organization' and Bars Land Purchases
CAIR's Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin chapters filed a federal lawsuit challenging Gov. Greg Abbott's proclamation that labeled the organization a 'foreign terrorist organization' and blocked it from purchasing land in Texas. The suit argues the declaration violates the U.S. Constitution and relies on unverified and selective statements. The Muslim Legal Fund of America joined CAIR's defense, calling the proclamation unconstitutional and a threat to due process. The dispute follows earlier scrutiny of a Muslim-centered planned community near Dallas that drew and later closed a federal civil rights inquiry.
06:01 PM, 11/21/2025Politics
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a federal lawsuit in Texas on Thursday challenging Governor Greg Abbott's proclamation that labeled the organization a 'foreign terrorist organization' and invoked a new state law to block CAIR from purchasing land in Texas.
CAIR's Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin chapters argue the proclamation and related actions violate the U.S. Constitution and Texas law, including protections for free speech and due process. The filing says the governor relied on inflammatory and unverified statements and selectively cited remarks by affiliates to portray CAIR as sympathetic to terrorism. CAIR notes it was founded in 1994, operates 25 chapters nationwide, and maintains a small Texas presence of eight employees and two contractors.
'This attempt to punish the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization simply because Governor Abbott disagrees with its views is not only contrary to the United States Constitution, but finds no support in any Texas law,' the lawsuit says.
Abbott's proclamation also extended the 'terrorist' label to the Muslim Brotherhood, which federal authorities have not designated as a terrorist organization. The governor's decree cites a recently passed statute aimed at preventing land purchases tied to alleged 'foreign adversaries' and uses that statute to bar CAIR from acquiring property in Texas.
CAIR's litigation director and general counsel, Lena Masri, said the suit is intended to protect free speech and due process. She warned that allowing a governor to unilaterally brand groups as terrorists, ban them from buying land and threaten their operations would put all civil rights organizations at risk.
'No civil rights organizations are safe if a governor can baselessly and unilaterally declare any of them terrorist groups, ban them from buying land, and threaten them with closure,' Masri said. 'We have beaten similar attacks on the First Amendment before, and we will do so again.'
The Muslim Legal Fund of America joined CAIR's legal defense, with attorney Charlie Swift calling the proclamation unconstitutional and arguing it undermines foundational notions of due process. The group said it is prepared to defend Texans' rights to free speech and civil rights advocacy without facing lawless or defamatory attacks.
The lawsuit follows earlier state scrutiny of a planned Muslim-centered residential development near Dallas tied to the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC). Some state officials had alleged the development intended to create a Muslim-exclusive community governed by Islamic law. EPIC representatives denied those claims, and a federal civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice was closed without charges.
This legal clash highlights broader tensions over civil rights, religious freedom and state authority in Texas as courts consider whether the governor's actions exceed constitutional limits.