Florida officials expected to close off government contracts and university access for the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations by November 5th, but civil rights advocates filed immediate legal challenges against the state designations.
State authorities in Florida approved designations on September 29, 2026, targeting the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and a separate organization, alongside more than 90 groups previously categorized by federal authorities as foreign terrorist organizations. As noted by Mohsin Osman, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and one other group were classified as domestic terrorist entities by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state government on September 29.
Financial Sanctions and Educational Bans Under Florida Law
Designated entities are barred from receiving state and local government support, and their members are prohibited from accessing state-funded educational resources or participating in government-sponsored programs as part of the new restrictions established under the statute.
According to state records and reports, authorities based their decision on allegations linking CAIR to networks associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, citing the organization’s listing as an unindicted co-conspirator
in the Holy Land Foundation prosecution that began in federal court in 2007, in addition to historical links between certain founders and Hamas figures. CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror finance prosecution in American history.
CAIR Challenges Florida Terrorism Designation in Federal Court
Governor DeSantis issued an executive order in December 2025 that attempted to designate CAIR as a terrorist organization, which CAIR Florida challenged in federal court to successfully obtain an injunction blocking its enforcement. Following the enactment of House Bill 1471, the state pursued the statutory path approved by the Florida Cabinet on September 29.
Unless CAIR secures a ruling from the federal courts, the decision will take effect on November 5th. Dismissing the terrorism claims as entirely groundless, CAIR’s Florida branch condemned the state actions as an infringement upon the constitutional freedoms belonging to people living in Florida.
US and UAE Designate Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorists
The United States Department of State designated the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization earlier in 2026, while the Treasury Department targeted the Egyptian and Jordanian branches under terrorism sanctions, followed by a foreign terrorist designation for the Sudanese branch.
Texas placed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on its state terrorist lists in 2025, and back in 2014 the United Arab Emirates classified CAIR as a terrorist organisation because of its close association with the Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE also views as a terrorist entity. Reporting by Florida Phoenix indicates that CAIR characterizes itself as the country’s leading civil rights group representing the Muslim population established in 1994, operating upwards of 25 offices across the country, which feature sites in Tampa and Sunrise (Broward County).
