DeSantis: Florida set to label Muslim civil rights nonprofit a terrorist group under new law
By Mitch Perry | Florida Phoenix
July 2, 2026 at 10:30 AM EDT
TAMPA 鈥� Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that he has received a recommendation to designate the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Florida, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Antifa as domestic terrorist organizations.
He cited authority given to state officials through legislation that had gone into effect just hours earlier.
The law () passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor in March, empowers the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to label organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist groups on evidence they meets specific criteria, including engagement in terrorist activity as defined by Florida law; is based in Florida; and poses an ongoing threat to the security of Florida or the United States.
The measure requires the head of the FDLE (now Mark Glass) to give written notice to the governor and the Cabinet of plans to declare the designation and gives the Cabinet seven days from the date of the receipt of written notice to approve or reject the designation.
Speaking during a press conference held at the Tampa Office of Statewide Prosecution less than 13 hours after the law went into effect, DeSantis said that the state has received recommendations to designate more than 90 groups as foreign terrorist organizations, including but not limited to Cartel de Sinaloa; Tren de Aragua; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC); Cartel del Noreste; and Cartel del Golfo.
This is not the first time DeSantis has attempted to designate CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as domestic terrorist organizations. He did so in December via an that drew a by CAIR Florida a week later. In March, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a temporary injunction (the Muslim Brotherhood never responded to the designation).
The DeSantis administration has appealed the temporary injunction in federal court. The governor predicted Wednesday that the state will win that legal battle but acknowledged, 鈥淲e did need to have more of a legal structure to be able to add teeth to these designations.鈥�
The recommendations now to go to the Cabinet for approval. The Cabinet includes Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, and Attorney General James Uthmeier 鈥� all Republicans. Together, the governor and Cabinet appointed Glass.
DeSantis personally appointed Ingoglia and Uthmeier to their positions. There is no Cabinet meeting scheduled for this month, so the governor said he likely will set an emergency conference call sometime to approve Glass鈥檚 recommendation.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 going to be an issue,鈥� he said of the coming vote.
The legislation granting state officials the powers to make such designations was approved mostly along party lines in both chambers of the Legislature earlier this year, with only Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a Republican from Miami-Dade County, joining Democrats in opposing the bill in the Senate.
Some Republicans outside the Legislature have expressed concerns about the bill, however.
鈥淚 think that when you give that much authority to an elected, or, in the case of this bill, sometimes non-elected officials, I think that鈥檚 very dangerous,鈥� former Florida Panhandle state House Republican Joel Rudman told a Phoenix reporter on radio in Tampa in March.
鈥淣ow, my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, I鈥檓 sure they鈥檙e looking at this bill, saying, 鈥楾hese statutes. They can鈥檛 be warped. They can鈥檛 be abused. We have no intention of abusing them.鈥� But you have to understand that every bill you pass into law, there鈥檚 going to have some unintended consequences, and you have to be prepared for how those statutes are going to be interpreted when you鈥檙e not the majority party. 鈥� I think any constitutional conservative Republicans should have a problem with that bill.鈥�
Pinellas County Democratic state Rep. Lindsay Cross wrote following the House vote that 鈥減lacing unilateral power in the hands state officials to designate domestic terrorist organizations is unjust and un-American. I stood against this bill on the House floor and its abuse of executive power in Florida.鈥�
A Phoenix reporter asked DeSantis Wednesday what he thought of Rudman鈥檚 qualms that conservatives might think differently of such a law if a Democratic administration was in place.
The governor rejected the idea.
鈥淚 think you saw how the Biden administration treated some of those groups, but this is something for public scrutiny,鈥� he said. 鈥淒o people dispute that? I mean, clearly, they have goods on this in terms of their operations, not just in the United States but across the world in some of these instances. Are we going to say Tren de Aragua should not be designated? They are a transnational criminal terrorist organization. They鈥檝e killed a lot of people. Are they going to say the IRGC should not be designated?鈥�
鈥淭hese are common-sense tools. It鈥檚 not saying, 鈥極h, some random civic group.鈥� It鈥檚 based on conduct.鈥�
READ MORE: DeSantis signs Florida's $117.6 billion budget. What did he veto?
The evidence against CAIR
In the case of CAIR Florida, DeSantis said people should be educated about the CAIR鈥檚 involvement in the Holy Land Foundation for Relief & Development case going back to 2007, in which CAIR was listed as an 鈥渦nindicted co-conspirator鈥� along with 245 other individual and entities, as the Phoenix in May.
They were accused of acting as part of a network designed to aid Hamas, although they were not criminally charged or indicted. CAIR was cited for alleged involvement with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood鈥檚 (a designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997) or its offshoots.
Speaking on behalf of CAIR, Scott McCoy, the deputy legal director with the Southern Poverty Law Center, provided a written response.
鈥淩egardless of what Gov. DeSantis thinks, the U.S. Constitution is supreme across our nation, including in Florida,鈥� he said. 鈥淕ov. DeSantis is seeking to unilaterally silence a leading American civil rights nonprofit and punish those who support it. On CAIR鈥檚 behalf, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, and our partners look forward to responding in court.鈥�
In December, Hiba Rahim, interim executive director for CAIR Florida, said the DeSantis executive order does 鈥渘ot present facts, it does not cite investigations, it does not point to any criminal findings. It simply declares guilt by proclamation.鈥�
She went on to say, 鈥淚t does not matter whether you agree or disagree with our policies or our advocacy. What should concern every American is the implication of allowing a government official to apply criminal designations without due process. This is not how things work in America. In this country, allegations come with evidence and evidence is tested in court. And it is judges, not politicians, who decide what is lawful.鈥�
Although CAIR was linked to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation Trial, officials with the organization stress that it has never been charged with a crime. 鈥淣ot once,鈥� the group says on on its website set aside to address 鈥渃onspiracy theories about CAIR.鈥�
As far as the other groups mentioned in the FDLE recommendation, the White House designated as a domestic terrorist group and certain as foreign terrorist organizations in 2025.
The new state law bans state and local governments from providing taxpayer funding, contracts, or other public support to designated terrorist organizations. Public colleges, universities, school districts, and other publicly funded institutions will be banned from using public resources to support or promote designated terrorist groups. Such groups may also be subject to being dissolved, and individuals who knowingly provide material support or resources could face criminal penalties.
The law鈥檚 Republican sponsors in the Legislature, Hillary Cassel from Dania Beach in the House and Erin Grall from Vero Beach in the Senate, frequently pitched the measure as 鈥渁nti-Sharia law,鈥� although in fact there were only a couple of sentences in the 28-page bill addressing religious law and only one sentence contains the word, 鈥淪haria.鈥�
DeSantis never mentioned Sharia Law once during his press conference.
The Cabinet vote
He did, however, mention that he suspects the three GOP Cabinet members, who are all on the ballot this fall, 鈥渨ill run probably saying, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檙e holding these groups accountable.'鈥�
The Phoenix reached out to Jos茅 Javier Rodr铆guez, the Democrat running for attorney general, and Annette Taddeo and Earle Ford, Democrats running for chief financial officer, to get their thoughts on the new law.
Ford calls the legislation, 鈥渁nti-American and morally wrong.鈥�
鈥淭he legislation appears deeply rooted in bigotry and religious targeting,鈥� he told the Phoenix through Facebook Messenger.
鈥淚t represents a massive power grab designed to repress political opponents and marginalized communities. Beyond the racism and prejudice associated with it, the bill is a direct assault on constitutional norms. Allowing the government to label domestic individuals as terrorists without due process will not only chill free speech, but it will open the floodgates for further attacks on minority groups. While the motivations behind this are clear, if the bill is passed and upheld by the courts, it will establish a precedent that can be used to target other religions and races almost at will.鈥�
A representative for Taddeo confirmed receiving the Phoenix鈥檚 message but did not provide an immediate response. The Rodr铆guez campaign did not provide an immediate response.
is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
He cited authority given to state officials through legislation that had gone into effect just hours earlier.
The law () passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor in March, empowers the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to label organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist groups on evidence they meets specific criteria, including engagement in terrorist activity as defined by Florida law; is based in Florida; and poses an ongoing threat to the security of Florida or the United States.
The measure requires the head of the FDLE (now Mark Glass) to give written notice to the governor and the Cabinet of plans to declare the designation and gives the Cabinet seven days from the date of the receipt of written notice to approve or reject the designation.
Speaking during a press conference held at the Tampa Office of Statewide Prosecution less than 13 hours after the law went into effect, DeSantis said that the state has received recommendations to designate more than 90 groups as foreign terrorist organizations, including but not limited to Cartel de Sinaloa; Tren de Aragua; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC); Cartel del Noreste; and Cartel del Golfo.
This is not the first time DeSantis has attempted to designate CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as domestic terrorist organizations. He did so in December via an that drew a by CAIR Florida a week later. In March, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a temporary injunction (the Muslim Brotherhood never responded to the designation).
The DeSantis administration has appealed the temporary injunction in federal court. The governor predicted Wednesday that the state will win that legal battle but acknowledged, 鈥淲e did need to have more of a legal structure to be able to add teeth to these designations.鈥�
The recommendations now to go to the Cabinet for approval. The Cabinet includes Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, and Attorney General James Uthmeier 鈥� all Republicans. Together, the governor and Cabinet appointed Glass.
DeSantis personally appointed Ingoglia and Uthmeier to their positions. There is no Cabinet meeting scheduled for this month, so the governor said he likely will set an emergency conference call sometime to approve Glass鈥檚 recommendation.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 going to be an issue,鈥� he said of the coming vote.
The legislation granting state officials the powers to make such designations was approved mostly along party lines in both chambers of the Legislature earlier this year, with only Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a Republican from Miami-Dade County, joining Democrats in opposing the bill in the Senate.
Some Republicans outside the Legislature have expressed concerns about the bill, however.
鈥淚 think that when you give that much authority to an elected, or, in the case of this bill, sometimes non-elected officials, I think that鈥檚 very dangerous,鈥� former Florida Panhandle state House Republican Joel Rudman told a Phoenix reporter on radio in Tampa in March.
鈥淣ow, my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, I鈥檓 sure they鈥檙e looking at this bill, saying, 鈥楾hese statutes. They can鈥檛 be warped. They can鈥檛 be abused. We have no intention of abusing them.鈥� But you have to understand that every bill you pass into law, there鈥檚 going to have some unintended consequences, and you have to be prepared for how those statutes are going to be interpreted when you鈥檙e not the majority party. 鈥� I think any constitutional conservative Republicans should have a problem with that bill.鈥�
Pinellas County Democratic state Rep. Lindsay Cross wrote following the House vote that 鈥減lacing unilateral power in the hands state officials to designate domestic terrorist organizations is unjust and un-American. I stood against this bill on the House floor and its abuse of executive power in Florida.鈥�
A Phoenix reporter asked DeSantis Wednesday what he thought of Rudman鈥檚 qualms that conservatives might think differently of such a law if a Democratic administration was in place.
The governor rejected the idea.
鈥淚 think you saw how the Biden administration treated some of those groups, but this is something for public scrutiny,鈥� he said. 鈥淒o people dispute that? I mean, clearly, they have goods on this in terms of their operations, not just in the United States but across the world in some of these instances. Are we going to say Tren de Aragua should not be designated? They are a transnational criminal terrorist organization. They鈥檝e killed a lot of people. Are they going to say the IRGC should not be designated?鈥�
鈥淭hese are common-sense tools. It鈥檚 not saying, 鈥極h, some random civic group.鈥� It鈥檚 based on conduct.鈥�
READ MORE: DeSantis signs Florida's $117.6 billion budget. What did he veto?
The evidence against CAIR
In the case of CAIR Florida, DeSantis said people should be educated about the CAIR鈥檚 involvement in the Holy Land Foundation for Relief & Development case going back to 2007, in which CAIR was listed as an 鈥渦nindicted co-conspirator鈥� along with 245 other individual and entities, as the Phoenix in May.
They were accused of acting as part of a network designed to aid Hamas, although they were not criminally charged or indicted. CAIR was cited for alleged involvement with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood鈥檚 (a designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997) or its offshoots.
Speaking on behalf of CAIR, Scott McCoy, the deputy legal director with the Southern Poverty Law Center, provided a written response.
鈥淩egardless of what Gov. DeSantis thinks, the U.S. Constitution is supreme across our nation, including in Florida,鈥� he said. 鈥淕ov. DeSantis is seeking to unilaterally silence a leading American civil rights nonprofit and punish those who support it. On CAIR鈥檚 behalf, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, and our partners look forward to responding in court.鈥�
In December, Hiba Rahim, interim executive director for CAIR Florida, said the DeSantis executive order does 鈥渘ot present facts, it does not cite investigations, it does not point to any criminal findings. It simply declares guilt by proclamation.鈥�
She went on to say, 鈥淚t does not matter whether you agree or disagree with our policies or our advocacy. What should concern every American is the implication of allowing a government official to apply criminal designations without due process. This is not how things work in America. In this country, allegations come with evidence and evidence is tested in court. And it is judges, not politicians, who decide what is lawful.鈥�
Although CAIR was linked to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation Trial, officials with the organization stress that it has never been charged with a crime. 鈥淣ot once,鈥� the group says on on its website set aside to address 鈥渃onspiracy theories about CAIR.鈥�
As far as the other groups mentioned in the FDLE recommendation, the White House designated as a domestic terrorist group and certain as foreign terrorist organizations in 2025.
The new state law bans state and local governments from providing taxpayer funding, contracts, or other public support to designated terrorist organizations. Public colleges, universities, school districts, and other publicly funded institutions will be banned from using public resources to support or promote designated terrorist groups. Such groups may also be subject to being dissolved, and individuals who knowingly provide material support or resources could face criminal penalties.
The law鈥檚 Republican sponsors in the Legislature, Hillary Cassel from Dania Beach in the House and Erin Grall from Vero Beach in the Senate, frequently pitched the measure as 鈥渁nti-Sharia law,鈥� although in fact there were only a couple of sentences in the 28-page bill addressing religious law and only one sentence contains the word, 鈥淪haria.鈥�
DeSantis never mentioned Sharia Law once during his press conference.
The Cabinet vote
He did, however, mention that he suspects the three GOP Cabinet members, who are all on the ballot this fall, 鈥渨ill run probably saying, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檙e holding these groups accountable.'鈥�
The Phoenix reached out to Jos茅 Javier Rodr铆guez, the Democrat running for attorney general, and Annette Taddeo and Earle Ford, Democrats running for chief financial officer, to get their thoughts on the new law.
Ford calls the legislation, 鈥渁nti-American and morally wrong.鈥�
鈥淭he legislation appears deeply rooted in bigotry and religious targeting,鈥� he told the Phoenix through Facebook Messenger.
鈥淚t represents a massive power grab designed to repress political opponents and marginalized communities. Beyond the racism and prejudice associated with it, the bill is a direct assault on constitutional norms. Allowing the government to label domestic individuals as terrorists without due process will not only chill free speech, but it will open the floodgates for further attacks on minority groups. While the motivations behind this are clear, if the bill is passed and upheld by the courts, it will establish a precedent that can be used to target other religions and races almost at will.鈥�
A representative for Taddeo confirmed receiving the Phoenix鈥檚 message but did not provide an immediate response. The Rodr铆guez campaign did not provide an immediate response.
is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.