Abbott Slaps Muslim Rights Group With “Defamatory and Lawless” Terrorist Label

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that Muslims are a “threat to our freedom” on Tuesday as he targeted the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the U.S. with a foreign terrorist organization label in an escalation of a movement of anti-Muslim hate in the state.

Abbott announced on Tuesday that he was designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as “foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.” His office said this allows the state attorney general to sue to shutter the groups and bans the groups from owning land in Texas.

Only the U.S. Secretary of State can designate a group as a foreign terrorist organization, a process that requires the authorization of numerous other federal officials, and notification of Congress and the public. It’s unclear if Abbott has the authority to undertake actions to enforce the designation, since states do not have the authority to make such a designation to begin with.

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Abbott said that the designation was made explicitly to target Muslim groups. He touted other actions he’s taken against Muslim constituents, like a law he recently signed to ban construction like a proposed development in North Texas that would include a mosque, housing, a faith school, and other community buildings, called EPIC City.

“The concern is high, especially when you see somebody like [New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran] Mamdani get elected and the cataclysmic problems that’s going to cause,” Abbott said, per The New York Times. “We want to make sure that’s never going to happen.”

“We have freedom of religion; however, your religion cannot become a threat to our freedom,” he said.

CAIR’s Texas chapter and its national headquarters vowed to continue the group’s work in Texas and said that it is preparing a legal response to the designation. It said that Abbott’s designation is “defamatory and lawless.”

“As you know, your proclamation has no basis in law or fact. You do not have the authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions terrorist groups, nor is there any basis to level this smear against our organization,” wrote CAIR’s director of government affairs, Robert McCaw, in a letter to Abbott on Tuesday.

Neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood have been designated by the federal government as foreign terrorist organizations. Abbott cited other federal actions against the groups, including the Biden administration’s disavowal of CAIR in 2023, and said, without evidence, that CAIR is tied to Hamas and wishes to impose Islamic law, or Sharia, in the U.S.

CAIR said that Abbott’s attack has no basis in fact, and is another targeted act against a Muslim group that has spoken up for Palestinian rights. The group said that it is prepared to sue Abbott if his administration tries to enforce actions against it.

“Greg Abbott is an Israel First politician who has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government. By defaming another 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,” the group said in a statement. “His latest publicity stunt has no basis in fact or law, nor can it stop our civil rights work.”