The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), has just shut down all operations in the state of Florida.
Back in September, the Ron DeSantis administration declared CAIR a terrorist organization, along with Antifa and the Muslim Brotherhood. CAIR appealed the measure in federal court and they lost, so they closed shop.
Other governors could learn from this.
The Florida Phoenix reported:
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has suspended operations in Florida, the organization has announced.
It did so after a federal judge rejected an emergency request Wednesday by the Muslim civil rights organization to stop the state from designating the group and its state chapter as domestic terrorist organizations, allowing the designation to take effect while its legal challenge, litigated by the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center, continues.
Federal Judge Allen C. Winsor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida denied CAIR and CAIR Florida’s request to reverse the designation. In a ruling released Wednesday night, Windsor said the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed at this stage on their claims that the designations under a new law (HB 1471) violates their due process and First Amendment rights.
The judge did issue a narrow form of preliminary relief, stating that Florida prosecutors cannot enforce the law against CAIR and CAIR Florida, their employees, or third parties with respect to provision of legal services to the groups.
That designation took effect Thursday. As a result, both groups say they have been forced to shut down their advocacy and operations in Florida.
“Today’s ruling is deeply disappointing and we are appealing it,” said Ashley Gorski, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Security Project.
“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. 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.”
DeSantis and his team took a victory lap over this on Twitter/X:
This morning, a federal court upheld Florida’s Domestic Terrorist Organization law and rejected CAIR’s attempt to stop the designations.
Great win by our Solicitor General’s office and for the people of Florida!
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) November 5, 2026
CAIR has officially suspended operations in Florida.
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) November 5, 2026
Results. https://t.co/53I0SiYIao
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 5, 2026
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