(RNS) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and criminal organizations, which he said would ban them from purchasing land in the state.
His designation on Tuesday (Nov. 18) will subject the groups to criminal penalties and “heightened enforcement” against them and their affiliates, Abbott said. It also allows the Texas attorney general to initiate legal action to shut the groups down.
Neither group is listed on the U.S. Department of State’s list of terrorist organizations. CAIR, one of the country’s largest Muslim advocacy groups, called the designation “defamatory and lawless” and said the organization has consistently condemned all forms of unjust violence. The group also threatened legal action against the state.
The governor’s move comes amid growing opposition from some Texas political officials to Muslim groups and mosques in the state. Muslim advocates have said they fear anti-Muslim rhetoric from Abbott could lead to violence against Muslim communities.
“Although we are flattered by Greg Abbott’s obsession with our civil rights organization, his publicity stunt masquerading as a proclamation has no basis in fact or law,” CAIR’s statement said. “By defaming a prominent American Muslim institution with debunked conspiracy theories and made-up quotes, Mr. Abbott has once again shown that his top priority is advancing anti-Muslim bigotry, not serving the people of Texas.”
It’s unclear if enforcing penalties against the group would hold up in court, but a state law passed earlier this year gave the governor additional power to ban companies, entities and individuals named in threat assessment reports from owning property, The Texas Tribune reported.
CAIR logo. (Image courtesy of CAIR)
The Muslim Brotherhood is an international Islamist group that does not have an organizational presence in the U.S. Several bills have been proposed in Congress to designate it and CAIR as terrorists groups, but none have passed.
In recent years, state lawmakers in Mississippi, Florida, Arizona and South Carolina have also attempted to pass resolutions encouraging state agencies to suspend contact with CAIR.
Abbott, however, appears to be the first governor to release such a proclamation, The New York Times reported.
In July, Texas Republicans issued a statement calling on the state’s elected officials to cut ties with CAIR. Their letter denounced the group’s alleged “anti-constitutional agenda, its documented terrorist affiliations, and its efforts to undermine American values, laws, and civic institutions.”
In his proclamation, Abbott alleged CAIR had ties to Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. CAIR denies any such connection. He also said CAIR wanted to advance Shariah, or Islamic religious law, in the country, a 9/11-era theory surrounding Islam not supported by evidence.
“The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation and harassment are unacceptable,” Abbott said in a statement. “These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”
One frequently cited allegation against CAIR stems from evidence presented during a federal investigation of the Holy Land Foundation, a prominent Muslim charity shut down in 2001. Five leaders of the group, who maintained they were involved in humanitarian work, were convicted of diverting funds to Palestinian groups with ties to Hamas. In the 2007 trial, CAIR was named as one of almost 250 unindicted co-conspirators without explanation. CAIR has denied allegations.
Abbott’s designation follows alleged harassment of Muslim youth earlier this month in the state. And Texas has seen months of opposition to EPIC City, a proposed 400-acre, Dallas-area Muslim community development. The governor has called it a “Shariah compound” and launched multiple investigations into alleged violations. The U.S. Department of Justice closed an investigation into the project in June without filing charges.
In a statement, CAIR-Texas said it will continue to defend civil rights, free speech and religious freedom in the state. “Greg Abbott is an Israel First politician who has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government,” the Texas chapter wrote on X. “Although we are flattered by his obsession with our civil rights group, his defamatory proclamation has no basis in fact or law.”