AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is pushing back against a lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), arguing the group’s legal challenge over being labeled a terrorist organization is built on speculation and political disagreement, not law.
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The response comes after Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation on Nov. 18, designating the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as “foreign terrorist organizations” and “transnational criminal organizations” under Texas law.
The move quickly sparked backlash and legal action from CAIR chapters in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, which say the designation violates their First Amendment rights.
Those chapters argue the proclamation has had a “chilling effect” on their free speech and advocacy work. But in a newly filed court response, Paxton’s office says CAIR has failed to show any actual enforcement action or concrete harm tied to the governor’s declaration.
Instead, the state argues the lawsuit is rooted in disagreement with Texas’ national security determinations, not a constitutional violation.
“Radical Islamist terrorist groups are anti-American, and the infiltration of these dangerous individuals into Texas must be stopped,” Paxton said in a statement. “My office will continue to defend the Governor’s lawful, accurate declaration that CAIR is an FTO, as well as Texas’s right to protect itself from organizations with documented ties to foreign extremist movements.”
Paxton’s filing also points to other designations of CAIR, noting the organization has been labeled a foreign terrorist organization by the state of Florida and the United Arab Emirates.
The response further cites past statements from an FBI special agent who described CAIR as a “front group for Hamas,” a claim CAIR has repeatedly denied.
This latest legal filing is part of an escalating back-and-forth between Texas leaders and civil rights groups that has unfolded over several weeks. As previously reported, Abbott has also called on the Texas Department of Public Safety to launch an investigation into CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood following the proclamation.
CAIR, meanwhile, has maintained the state’s actions unfairly target Muslim organizations and amount to government overreach.
The lawsuit remains active, and it’s unclear how quickly a judge could weigh in. For now, Paxton says his office will continue defending the proclamation as a matter of public safety and state authority.
To read the filing, click here.