Hinojosa Says She Will Lift Abbott's Terrorist Label on CAIR

Gina Hinojosa, the governor-elect of Texas, said she would rescind Gov. Greg Abbott's proclamation labeling the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations a terrorist organization, in a newspaper interview published Nov. 14, 11 days after the Democrat unseated Abbott.

"We have to use public safety measures for public safety," Hinojosa said in the interview. She has issued no statement or timetable on the pledge.

Abbott signed the proclamation on Nov. 18, 2025. It designates the Muslim Brotherhood and "its successor organization CAIR" as foreign terrorist organizations under Section 71.01(e) of the Texas Penal Code, which exposes them, and people who promote or aid their criminal activities, to the penalties of Chapter 125 of the state's Civil Practice and Remedies Code. A second clause names both as transnational criminal organizations under Section 5.254 of the Property Code, added by Senate Bill 17 in 2025, which bars designated entities from buying or acquiring land in Texas. That section also lets a governor remove a designation after consulting the state's Homeland Security Council.

"The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam's 'mastership of the world,'" Abbott said when he announced the move.

Abbott's proclamation asserts that the FBI regarded CAIR as founded as a "front group" for "Hamas and its support network," and that CAIR was named an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the federal terrorism financing prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation. It cites a 2009 federal court finding of "ample evidence to establish" an association "with Hamas." It also names people tied to CAIR who were later convicted, among them Ghassan Elashi, whom it describes as "a founding board member" of the Texas branch. Federal prosecutors never charged CAIR in the Holy Land case, and the group does not appear on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Two days after the proclamation, Abbott ordered the state's Department of Public Safety to open criminal investigations into both groups. No resulting charges against CAIR have been made public.

CAIR, founded in 1994 and based in Washington, describes itself as the largest Muslim civil liberties organization in the country. It gives its mission as "to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims," and its stated principles say it "condemns all acts of violence against civilians by any individual, group or state."

Its tax filings run through the CAIR Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity. The foundation's 2024 Form 990 reports $8.76 million in contributions, about 93 percent of its revenue, and lists pay of $236,198 for Executive Director Nihad Awad. CAIR states on its website that it "does not receive funding from foreign organizations or governments."

Electoral work belongs to CAIR Action, which calls itself "a 501(c)4 affiliate" of CAIR. Its 2026 Texas voter guide rated Hinojosa "Preferred," a tier it defines as a candidate who supports many core issues.

The Dallas Fort Worth and Austin chapters of CAIR sued Abbott and Ken Paxton, the attorney general, in federal court on Nov. 20, 2025, and the statewide CAIR Texas chapter later joined. The suit calls the proclamation "defamatory" and says its claims have "no basis in law or fact." U.S. District Judge Alan Albright heard CAIR's bid for a preliminary injunction on April 22. The portion of the docket available Sunday showed no ruling on the injunction.

Paxton filed a separate suit in Collin County on Feb. 5, 2026, naming CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood and three CAIR chapters, in Austin, Houston and the Dallas Fort Worth area, and seeking to bar them from operating in Texas. "Sharia law and the jihadists who follow sharia law have no business being in Texas," Paxton said. CAIR says the state's actions are retaliation for lawsuits it won against Texas on behalf of critics of the Israeli government.

Abbott's proclamation also cites a 2017 law barring enforcement of foreign law in Texas, Sharia included, and House Bill 4211, a 2025 law against exclusionary residential compounds.

After the Nov. 3 election, CAIR said the results were a rebuke of "the politics of hate."

Florida acted 20 days after Texas. In Executive Order 25-244, dated Dec. 8, 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis named the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR terrorist organizations "for the purpose of this Executive Order." The order calls Brotherhood ideology "irreconcilable with foundational American principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and says Brotherhood members "created Hamas in 1987." It traces CAIR's 1994 founding to the Palestine Committee, a Brotherhood affiliate it says was set up to aid Hamas, and states that CAIR "was founded by persons connected to the Muslim Brotherhood." It also cites the Holy Land case and convictions of people it ties to CAIR. Unless federal or state law forbids it, state agencies were told to withhold contracts, jobs, funds or other benefits from the groups and from anyone known to have given them material support. DeSantis wrote on X that legislators were "crafting legislation to stop the creep of sharia law."

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked the order as applied to CAIR on March 4, concluding that it probably ran afoul of the First Amendment. DeSantis's appeal of that ruling is pending.

Lawmakers then passed House Bill 1471, effective July 1. Under the law, a designation by Florida's domestic security chief needs approval by majority vote of the governor and Cabinet, and knowingly giving material support to a designated group is a first degree felony. On Sept. 29 the governor and Cabinet approved designations of CAIR and its Florida chapter, along with the Muslim Brotherhood and antifa. The CAIR designations took effect Nov. 5 by statute, after CAIR passed up a state court challenge. A day earlier, Allen Winsor, chief federal judge for Florida's Northern District, denied most of CAIR's request to block the law and made no finding on whether CAIR is a terrorist organization. He barred enforcement of the material support felony over legal work done for the two groups. CAIR suspended its Florida operations and is appealing.

"CAIR-Florida categorically rejects Florida officials' baseless designation of us," said Hiba Rahim, the chapter's executive director. A CAIR objection filed with the state said the notice of intent offered no evidence of violent conduct, and its suit over the executive order argues that the order retaliated against its speech, including an earlier lawsuit against DeSantis.

The Texas designation now depends on Hinojosa, who takes office in January. The state constitution has a new governor sworn in on the first Tuesday following the organization of the Legislature, and the Property Code allows a governor to lift the land purchase designation once the Homeland Security Council has been consulted. Until she acts, Abbott's proclamation stays in force, and CAIR's federal suit against it still awaits a ruling. Florida's designation, grounded in a statute and a vote of the governor and Cabinet, faces its next tests at the 11th Circuit, where DeSantis's appeal of the order blocking his executive order and CAIR's appeal of Winsor's ruling on the new law are both pending.