Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on July 1, 2026, that the state will utilize a new anti-terrorism law to designate certain organizations as terrorist entities. The organizations identified include the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood, and antifa, alongside over 90 federally designated foreign terrorist organizations such as the Sinaloa cartel and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
DeSantis stated, "Today, we are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law." CAIR, which is the largest Muslim civil liberties organization in the U.S., has not been involved in any direct terrorist attacks and is not classified as a foreign terrorist organization by the federal government. However, it has faced political scrutiny regarding alleged connections to Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups.
Earlier this year, DeSantis signed legislation that establishes a framework for identifying and combating terrorist organizations, allowing the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to recommend organizations for designation, subject to approval by the governor and Cabinet.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass emphasized the importance of identifying threats to community safety. The new law prohibits taxpayer-funded institutions from supporting designated terrorist organizations and creates new state crimes for providing material support to them. It also allows for the administrative dissolution of corporations designated as terrorist organizations.
This announcement follows a December executive order from DeSantis aimed at eliminating the influence of what he termed "radical terrorist ideologies" in Florida. The order directed state agencies to deny taxpayer funding and other support to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, where legally permissible.
Legal challenges have emerged against these actions. CAIR filed a lawsuit earlier this year, claiming that DeSantis's executive order exceeded his constitutional authority. A federal judge subsequently issued a temporary injunction blocking the executive order, questioning the governor's ability to unilaterally designate a major civil rights group as a terrorist organization without an emergency situation.
The announcement coincides with a similar move by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations, which allows for increased enforcement and prohibits these groups from purchasing land in Texas.