CAIR sues Texas Gov Abbott after it was labeled a terrorist organization

A prominent Muslim advocacy organization has filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas, saying that Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to designate it a “foreign terrorist organization” tramples on the US Constitution and state law.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin chapters filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday seeking to overturn Abbott’s announcement made earlier in the week.

“This attempt to punish the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization simply because Governor Abbott does not agree with its views is not only inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, but finds no support in any Texas law,” the group said in its lawsuit.

Founded in 1994, CAIR operates 25 branches nationwide, including a small Texas team of eight employees and two contractors, according to the filing.

Texas Governor Abbott declares CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist groups and bans land purchases

“CAIR-Texas and the Texas Muslim community are defending our constitutional rights by directly confronting Greg Abbott’s unlawful attack on our civil rights,” CAIR-Texas said in a statement. “We are not and will not be intimidated by the smear campaigns waged by Israel First politicians like Mr. Abbott. Mr. Abbott smears us and other American Muslims because we are effective advocates for justice here and abroad. We plan to continue to exercise our constitutional rights, defend our civil rights, and speak truth to power, whether in defense of free speech, religious liberty, and racial equality here in Texas or in defense of human rights abroad.”

Abbott’s order expanded the “terrorist” designation to include the Muslim Brotherhood, although federal authorities have never designated either group that way.

The governor’s decree also prohibits CAIR from purchasing land in the Lone Star State under a new law aimed at limiting purchases linked to “foreign adversaries.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement prohibits CAIR from purchasing land in the Lone Star State. (Antranik Tavityan/Reuters)

The group’s filing asserts that Abbott relied on “inflammatory statements that have no basis in fact,” selectively citing statements by affiliates to portray CAIR as sympathetic to terrorism.

“Today’s lawsuit is our first step toward defeating Governor Abbott once again so our nation protects free speech and due process for all Americans,” Lina El-Masry, director of litigation and general counsel at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “No civil rights organizations would be safe if a governor could unilaterally and baselessly declare any of them terrorist groups, prevent them from purchasing land, and threaten them with closure. We have overcome Greg Abbott’s attacks on the First Amendment before, and, God willing, we will do so again now.”

The American Islamic Legal Fund also said it was “proud to defend the constitutional rights of CAIR Texas and the right of all Texans to engage in free speech and support civil rights without facing unlawful and defamatory attacks by Greg Abbott.”

“Mr. Abbott’s unconstitutional declaration undermines the basic concepts of due process on which our system depends and must not stand,” said Charlie Swift, an attorney for the American Islamic Legal Fund. “For the sake of our nation’s fundamental freedoms, Greg Abbott’s latest attack on the American people must be defeated,” he added.

Anti-Islam protesters clash between Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan, after a man tries to burn the Quran.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations accused the governor of relying on “baseless and inflammatory statements.” (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Earlier this year, Texas Republicans sought to stop a planned Muslim-centered community around one of the state’s largest mosques near Dallas.

Abbott and other Republican state officials have opened investigations into development linked to the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC), alleging the group is trying to create an exclusive Muslim community that applies Sharia law.

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EPIC City representatives described the attacks claiming Islamic law as misleading, dangerous and baseless.

The U.S. Department of Justice closed a federal civil rights investigation into the planned community without filing any charges or lawsuits.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.