CAIR ends Florida operations after designation
The gist
Muslim civil rights group CAIR suspended Florida operations after a judge declined to block the state's terrorist designation.
The group will appeal, testing how far states can brand organizations without charges.
How it unfolded
- Dec 2025DeSantis issued an executive order designating CAIR and CAIR-Florida as terrorist organizations, directing state and local agencies to block them from public contracts, funding and benefits.
- Mar 2026A federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the executive order, ruling the governor lacked authority to impose the designation unilaterally.
- Sep 29, 2026DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted to designate CAIR and CAIR Florida as domestic terrorist organizations, plus more than 90 additional groups as foreign terrorist organizations; officials accused CAIR of maintaining connections to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Key terms
- temporary injunction
- A court order requiring a party to do or stop doing a specific act.
- due process
- The principle that the state must apply all legal rules and respect a person's legal rights in any case.
- First Amendment
- Constitutional provision barring Congress from restricting religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition rights.
Source: Wikipedia