Ron DeSantis defends Florida's designation powers and announces intent to designate CAIR.

Where this statement fits

Florida designates CAIR a domestic terrorist organization; CAIR challenges the label.

Florida's governor and Cabinet approved the designation of CAIR, including CAIR-Florida, as a domestic terrorist organization on September 29, 2026. An October 6 notice set the designation to take effect 30 days after publication, on November 5. The groups challenge the statutory designation under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and as preempted by federal law. FDLE's notice cites historical Holy Land Foundation materials, foreign designations and Senate testimony. It asserts that CAIR, including its Florida chapter, engages in terrorist activity and poses an ongoing threat. CAIR's September 25 written objection disputes those assertions and the adequacy of the process. The state's defendants defend the designation as an administrative measure targeting conduct. CAIR and CAIR-Florida's October 16 reply and sworn declarations deny terrorist activity and challenge the state's arguments. On October 6, Judge Mark Walker denied an immediate temporary restraining order because the November 5 effective date left time to hear both sides. After the case was reassigned, Chief Judge Allen Winsor heard the preliminary-injunction request on October 28. On November 4 he declined to order the designations removed, finding the groups unlikely to succeed on most claims, including their due process and prior-restraint claims. He wrote that whether the groups are in fact terrorist organizations was not the question at that stage. He barred the Attorney General and State Attorneys from enforcing the material-support law over legal services provided to the groups, whether against the groups and their employees or against the people providing those services. That bar required a $1,000 bond, and the groups' counsel filed notice of it on November 6. The designations took effect on November 5. That day the groups filed a notice of appeal to the Eleventh Circuit, and their counsel said CAIR and CAIR-Florida were shutting down advocacy and operations in Florida.