CAIR-Foundation, Inc and CAIR Florida, Inc. v. DeSantis et al.

Challenge to Florida’s “domestic terrorist organization” designation regime

In April 2026, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law HB 1471 and HB 1473 despite outcry. HB 1471 establishes an unprecedented state “domestic terrorist organization” designation regime (“DTO regime”) and dramatically expands Florida’s authority to single out and punish groups — including nonprofits engaged in First Amendment-protected advocacy — that officials unilaterally decide are criminals and security threats.

Under the DTO regime, Florida officials can brand a nonprofit corporation with debilitating stigma and then use an array of state authorities to immediately silence and incapacitate the organization by subjecting it, its employees, and a wide range of others who associate with it, to extraordinarily broad and severe criminal and civil penalties. Targeted organizations can receive no meaningful notice and have no meaningful opportunity to challenge the designation before a neutral decisionmaker — and before the designation and harsh penalties take effect.

CAIR is the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country and CAIR-Florida is its state chapter. The nonprofits are organized under the laws of the District of Columbia and Florida, respectively. Their shared mission, rooted in faith, is to enhance the public’s understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. Like other prominent nonprofits, they hold community events, post educational materials on social media, speak about elected leaders and government policies, and represent clients in advocacy and civil rights lawsuits. They have not been charged with, let alone convicted of, a crime. They do not engage in “terrorist activity.” They serve, and employ, Floridians.

CAIR and CAIR-Florida initially challenged their designation under the new Florida law in a suit filed on July 1, the day the law went into effect, and Governor DeSantis said he and other Cabinet officials would move quickly to designate CAIR. On October 1, the court dismissed their initial case, finding that the nonprofits did not have standing in July because their fears of harm were speculative. Hours later, counsel for CAIR and CAIR-Florida filed a new complaint, explaining that Governor DeSantis and other Cabinet members had followed through on their threats and baselessly voted to designate CAIR and CAIR Florida on September 29, 2026.

The ACLU, the ACLU of Florida, the Southern Poverty Law Center (“SPLC”), Akeel & Valentine, PLC, and Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP represent the plaintiffs in this suit (the “DTO Case”). The lawsuit explains that once the DTO designation goes into effect, its impact will be instant and incapacitating for CAIR and CAIR-Florida’s work in the state. It alleges violations of CAIR and CAIR-Florida’s rights under the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Supremacy Clause.

Challenge to Governor DeSantis’s “terrorist organization” Executive Order

On December 8, 2025, Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 25-244, baselessly branding CAIR as a “terrorist organization,” and ordering that it, and those who knowingly provide it “material support,” be stripped of state and local government contracts, employment opportunities, funding, and other Florida public benefits.

CAIR and CAIR-Florida sued Governor DeSantis in the U.S. District Court for the Northen District of Florida, challenging the Executive Order as violating their constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

On March 4, 2026, the federal district court preliminarily enjoined enforcement of Governor DeSantis’s Executive Order, holding that CAIR was likely to succeed in establishing that the Executive Order impermissibly attempted to coerce third parties into suppressing CAIR’s speech, in violation of the First Amendment. Governor DeSantis appealed the district court’s decision to the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida have joined SPLC, Akeel & Valentine, PLC, and Ali & Lockwood LLP in representing CAIR and CAIR-Florida in this challenge (the “EO Case”).