CAIR-FL Interim Executive Director Hiba Rahim / Chris Young, WMNF News, 12/9/2025
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The Florida Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations announced they are taking legal action against Governor Ron DeSantis at a press conference Tuesday in Tampa.
It’s after the governor designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S, a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Hiba Rahim, Interim Executive Director at CAIR Florida, called the executive order a smear campaign.
“We will not back down. CAIR Florida will file a lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis in response to his defamatory and unconstitutional order baselessly smearing CAIR Florida,” Rahim said.
The organization says DeSantis’s executive order singles out and defames the Muslim community for a political agenda.
Megan Amer is the policy director for CAIR Florida.
“This is an appalling attack to try to take attention away from the current genocide going on in Gaza. It’s to create a scapegoat,” Amer said.
A lawyer for the organization said DeSantis has no constitutional authority to declare an American institution a terrorist group.
In a press conference on the same day, DeSantis said he welcomes the lawsuit and looks forward to subpoenaing bank records from the organization.
“I welcome the lawsuit because what’ll happen is that it will give the state of Florida discovery rights to be able to subpoena the bank records,” DeSantis said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a similar order last month.