Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Council on American–Islamic Relations, or CAIR, and the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in a proclamation on Nov. 18.

The designation “authorizes heightened enforcement against both organizations and their affiliates and prohibits them from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas,” according to a press release.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis mirrored Abbott’s decision, labeling both groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations through executive order on Dec. 8.

President Donald Trump also called for certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood to be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in an executive order published on Nov. 24. 

“Chapters in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt engage in … violence and destabilization campaigns that harm their own regions, United States citizens, and United States interests,” Trump wrote in his executive order. “… The Muslim Brotherhood joined Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian factions to launch multiple rocket attacks against both civilian and military targets within Israel…  Such activities threaten the security of American civilians in the Levant and other parts of the Middle East, as well as the safety and stability of our regional partners.”

Trump’s executive order noted that only certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood were to be held liable and designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, not the organization as a whole.

“It is the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate the capabilities and operations of Muslim Brotherhood chapters designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations … deprive those chapters of resources, and thereby end any threat such chapters pose to United States nationals or the national security of the United States,” the order reads.

The Muslim Brotherhood is also designated as a terrorist organization in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kenya, among other countries.

Abbott’s proclamation also included CAIR, the largest American Muslim civil rights group in the United States.

CAIR Director of Government Affairs Robert S. McCaw penned an official response letter to Abbott, criticizing what he calls the governor’s prioritization of foreign relations with Israel over American citizens.

“Sadly, your office has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government,” McCaw wrote in the response letter. “… Unlike your office, which has unleashed violence against Texas students protesting the Gaza genocide to satisfy your AIPAC donors, our civil rights organization answers to the American people, relies on support from the American people, and stands up for American values.”

This is not the first time CAIR has been criticized by the United States government. In Nov. 2023, following the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, Executive Director of CAIR Nihad Awad said that Israel “does not have that right to self-defense,” sparking the Biden administration to publicly disavow CAIR and landing the organization in congressional hearings.

Moreover, CAIR’s alleged relationship with Hamas has continued to fuel controversy, and was included in Rep. Randy Fine’s (R-FL) proposed bill to designate CAIR as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in June 2025.

“CAIR has no place in American society,” Fine said. “This is a group that celebrated the massacre on October 7th, saying it made them ‘happy’. I was proud to lead Florida in designating CAIR as a terrorist front, and I will be ‘happy’ when Congress does the same.”

CAIR chapters in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin filed a lawsuit against Abbott, saying that he acted against a domestic nonprofit without due process.

Attorney Charlie Swift of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, one of the groups filing the lawsuit, said that he believed Abbott was reaching for federal authority that was above his rank.

“He’s entered into the exclusive realm of the federal government, under the supremacy clause and well-established case law set out in our brief in our complaint,” Swift said. “But the federal government alone controls foreign sanctions. Governor Abbott decided to appropriate that power to himself to retaliate against CAIR.”

The case is ongoing as of Dec. 16.