DeSantis in legal hot water after calling Muslim group a “terrorist organization”

Judge halts governor’s executive order

A federal judge in Florida blocked Gov. Ron DeSantis from calling the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a “terrorist organization.”

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued the ruling on March 4, finding the executive order violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The preliminary injunction stops the state from enforcing the order while the lawsuit plays out. CAIR is the largest Muslim civil rights group in the country.

DeSantis signed the order in Dec.

DeSantis signed Executive Order 25-244 on Dec. 8, 2025.

It labeled both CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations under state policy. The order told every state agency, county, and city to deny contracts, jobs, funding, and benefits to CAIR.

It went further than that.

Anyone known to have given “material support” to the group, including expert advice, also faced the same restrictions.

Judge said the order punished speech

Walker didn’t mince words. He wrote that the First Amendment bars a governor from using executive power to make a political statement at the expense of others’ constitutional rights.

The court found the order pressured third parties to cut ties with CAIR by threatening to take away government benefits.

Walker also said the order was payback against CAIR for its advocacy around the Israel-Hamas conflict. He found no precedent for a governor labeling a group terrorist on his own.

The order already hurt CAIR

The damage started before the judge stepped in. A Florida production company backed out of a podcast deal with CAIR after DeSantis signed the order.

The South Florida Muslim Federation pulled CAIR Florida from a late January conference in Coral Springs.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier even posted on social media warning Coral Springs that state resources can’t go to any group tied to CAIR. Donations to the organization dropped too.

CAIR has fought for Muslim rights since 1994

CAIR was founded in 1994 and now has more than 20 chapters across the country. The group handles legal cases, advocacy work, and education outreach on behalf of Muslim Americans.

No federal agency has ever labeled CAIR a foreign terrorist organization.

That’s a key point in the lawsuit, because the judge found that only the federal government has the authority to make that kind of designation.

DeSantis pointed to a 2009 federal case

DeSantis justified the order by pointing to a 2009 terrorism financing case called the Holy Land Foundation trial. CAIR appeared on a list of unindicted co-conspirators in that case.

The order also cited alleged ties between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood. The United Arab Emirates labeled CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014.

DeSantis said he welcomed a legal fight because it would let Florida subpoena CAIR’s financial records.

CAIR sued eight days after the order

CAIR filed a federal lawsuit on Dec. 16, 2025, arguing the order violated free speech, discriminated based on viewpoint, and punished the group for protected speech.

CAIR has said it has always condemned terrorism and violence.

The group also pushed back on the Holy Land Foundation connection, noting that more than 300 organizations appeared on that same co-conspirator list. The judge in that case said the trial was not about CAIR.

Governor’s office fired back at the judge

DeSantis communications director Alex Lanfranconi criticized Walker on social media after the ruling.

He flipped the judge’s own language, writing that judicial ethics bars a federal judge from using his office to make a political statement at a party’s expense.

Meanwhile, a bill is moving through the Florida Legislature that would let a small group of state officials designate terrorist organizations by law. The GOP-controlled House already passed it.

Texas and the White House took similar steps

Florida isn’t alone. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a similar order in November 2025 labeling CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Abbott’s version went even further, barring those groups from buying land in Texas. CAIR filed a lawsuit there too.

At the federal level, President Trump signed an executive order in late 2025 that started the process of designating certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as foreign terrorist organizations.

Legal team called the ruling a win

CAIR’s legal team included the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the CAIR Legal Defense Fund, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, and Michigan law firm Akeel and Valentine.

The SPLC’s deputy legal director called the ruling a clear victory for the Constitution. The coalition argued that the executive order was never about public safety.

They said it targeted a Muslim organization for its speech.

The case moves forward in federal court

The injunction blocks enforcement, but it doesn’t end the case. The full lawsuit will continue in federal court.

If the Florida Legislature passes its pending bill, DeSantis could try a new legal path to pursue the designation.

The case raises a bigger question: can a state governor label a domestic organization as terrorist without the federal government’s involvement?

Florida has about 500,000 Muslim residents, according to CAIR.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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