Texas Governor Designates CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Organizations: Legal Implications and Controversy

Texas Governor has declared that this designation will prohibit these organizations from purchasing or acquiring property within the state.

On Tuesday, the governor of Texas officially classified two Muslim organizations as terrorist entities, including CAIR, one of America's most significant Islamic civil rights advocacy groups.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott also designated the Muslim Brotherhood, a global Islamist movement, as a terrorist organization.

Abbott announced on X, "Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations."

According to Abbott, this classification prohibits these organizations from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas and authorizes state authorities to take legal action to shut down their operations.

Texas ranks among the US states experiencing rapid growth in Muslim population - approximately 313,000 residents as of 2025, based on World Population Review statistics.

CAIR, headquartered in Washington with 30 offices nationwide, has been defending Muslim civil rights in America since the mid-1990s and has openly criticized US policy regarding the Gaza conflict.

The organization denounced Tuesday's declaration, stating that Abbott had "spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government."

Abbott has consistently demonstrated support for Israel during the Gaza conflict and has characterized pro-Palestinian student demonstrations within Texas as antisemitic.

The authority to designate organizations as terrorist entities typically belongs to the federal government rather than individual states.

However, in September 2024, Abbott had already classified the criminal organization Tren de Aragua as an international terrorist group. His ally, US President Donald Trump, implemented a similar designation at the federal level in February 2025.

In September, Abbott enacted Texas legislation prohibiting real estate developments from becoming exclusive communities operating under "Sharia law" or Islamic legal principles.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been scrutinizing a real estate development in Plano, north of Dallas, for months, alleging connections to irregularities.

The project's administrators have refuted claims that the complex is intended exclusively for Muslims and maintain that it complies with all applicable laws.