{"id":141539,"date":"2026-01-28T19:27:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141539\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T19:27:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:27:07","slug":"gov-abbott-calls-on-texas-ag-to-revoke-cairs-nonprofit-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141539\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Abbott calls on Texas AG to revoke CAIR\u2019s nonprofit status"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> is calling on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to revoke the nonprofit status of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and prevent the organization and its affiliates from operating in the state.<\/p>\n

In a letter released by the governor\u2019s office, Abbott said the attorney general has the authority under Texas law to examine nonprofit records and strip corporate charters if an organization is found to be violating the law. <\/p>\n

Abbott accused CAIR of posing a threat to public safety and said its nonprofit designation should not shield it from enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Texas law, the Texas Attorney General is the only elected official charged with regulating nonprofits that may be violating the law,\u201d Abbott wrote, urging Paxton to take action.<\/p>\n

Paxton said in a statement that he is demanding records from Cypress-Fairbanks and Grapevine-Colleyville independent school districts as part of an investigation into the districts\u2019 ties to the Islamic Games of North America, which has hosted events sponsored by a CAIR chapter, according to his office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe spread of radical Islam in Texas must be stopped, and if school districts are continuing to promote or partner with organizations tied to an FTO, that ends now,\u201d said Attorney General Paxton. \u201cI will ensure that taxpayers\u2019 dollars are not materially supporting activities by Islamist terrorists in violation of Texas law.\u201d <\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s request is the latest step in a series of actions he says are aimed at countering the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR in Texas. Those actions include calling on school districts to sever ties with CAIR-sponsored events, requesting federal review of CAIR\u2019s tax-exempt status, directing state police to launch criminal investigations, and ordering investigations into alleged Sharia courts.<\/p>\n

Paxton\u2019s office is already seeking information from Cypress-Fairbanks and Grapevine-Colleyville independent school districts as part of an investigation into school events linked to the Islamic Games of North America, which had listed a CAIR chapter as a sponsor. One or more of those events has since been canceled or rescheduled, according to state officials.<\/p>\n

Abbott designated CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization<\/a> under Texas law in November 2025 and notified school officials earlier this month that state law prohibits such organizations from operating on public school property.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoluminous documents detail the dangers posed to Texans by the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, and their affiliates,\u201d said Governor Abbott. \u201cRegardless of the fa\u00e7ade CAIR attempts to portray in press releases, CAIR cannot be allowed to use its \u2018nonprofit\u2019 status as a shield for sponsoring terror, advancing radical Islamism in Texas, or fronting for the Muslim Brotherhood. The same goes for other entities pretending to engage in charity by day, while sponsoring terror by night. Under Texas law, \u2018the Texas Attorney General is the only elected official charged with regulating\u2019 nonprofits that may be violating the law, including by examining their records and stripping their corporate charters. You have used these tools before; I urge you to use them now to combat CAIR.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott has said that CAIR is a front group for Hamas, a claim CAIR has repeatedly denied.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear what immediate action the attorney general will take in response to Abbott\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n

According to the district<\/a>, CFISD has not received the governor\u2019s letter directly and only became aware of it through an online press release. District officials said CFISD is not \u201chosting\u201d the 2026 Houston Islamic Games and currently has no facility use agreements in place for the 2026\u201327 school year.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to revoke the nonprofit status of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30486,59551,392,1967,30481,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-141539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-cair","tag-cypress-fairbanks","tag-greg-abbott","tag-ken-paxton","tag-muslim-brotherhood","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}