Gov. Ron DeSantis designated CAIR Florida and the Muslim Brotherhood as domestic terrorist organizations under new state law

On July 1, 2026 — the effective date of Florida House Bill 1471 — Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state's first designations of "domestic terrorist organizations" under the new law. The designations include the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Antifa, along with more than 90 foreign terrorist organizations including the Sinaloa Cartel, Tren de Aragua, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran. DeSantis stated: "In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we are adding Antifa to the list — along with more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including cartels."

HB 1471, signed by DeSantis on April 6, 2026, empowers the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Chief of Domestic Security to recommend that the governor and Cabinet designate groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations. Once designated, groups are subject to criminal penalties for anyone providing them material support, and state agencies must deny them public funding. The law applies to organizations that engage in or support terrorist activity and pose an ongoing threat to Florida or the United States.

DeSantis had first attempted the CAIR designation through an executive order in December 2025. In March 2026, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction blocking that order, ruling it violated the First Amendment's protection of political advocacy and assembly. The legislature subsequently enacted HB 1471 as a statutory vehicle to accomplish the same result. CAIR Florida, founded in 1994, is a civil rights and advocacy organization representing American Muslims; it had been targeted by DeSantis's administration specifically because of its political speech and advocacy, including its criticism of U.S. and Israeli military policy.

Updates

2026-07-02 — ACLU and SPLC sued Florida to block CAIR designation as unconstitutional [6]

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of CAIR and CAIR-Florida challenging the HB 1471 designation as a violation of the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause. The suit argues the law enables state officials to designate organizations engaged in constitutionally protected advocacy as terrorist entities without meaningful procedural safeguards, threatening the organizations' ability to operate in Florida.