The Council on American-Islamic Relations has suspended its Florida operations after the state’s terrorist designation took effect, delivering a major development in Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign against the organization. CAIR and its Florida chapter announced the shutdown on November 5th, 2026, after a federal judge declined to block their designation as domestic terrorist organizations. The groups said they would appeal. The ruling left the designation in place while providing limited protection for legal representation.
In a September 1st, 2026, exchange at the Florida GOP Leadership Forum in Tampa, subsequently shared on Facebook, DeSantis discussed his administration’s efforts to restrict Sharia law and designate organizations under Florida’s new anti-terrorism framework. He also raised concerns about political Islam’s influence on American institutions and its relationship with socialist politics. His questions addressed access to public benefits, including scholarships, and whether Florida had taken the right approach with its legislation.
The governor and Florida Cabinet approved the CAIR designations on September 29th, with the labels taking effect after a waiting period. The state’s new framework allows officials to designate organizations following recommendations from Florida’s chief of domestic security. It also establishes criminal penalties for providing material support to designated groups and restricts support through taxpayer-funded institutions.
“I signed a bill a couple months ago banning the use of Sharia law in Florida,” DeSantis said in the recorded exchange. He described the legislation as giving the governor authority to designate certain organizations and said he had worked with the Cabinet to exercise that power. DeSantis named the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR and Antifa among the groups Florida had targeted.
DeSantis turned to the political alliances he believed were developing around those issues. “But I think the issue we’re now seeing in the Democratic Party,” he said, was “the fusion of socialism with with some Islamism,” describing it as a “red green alliance.” He then asked: “How does Islamist ideology, political Islam, factor into American institutions and societies?”
The governor followed with a question about the practical consequences of the designations. “Obviously, if we’ve designated these groups as FTOs, they would not be eligible for benefits, whether it’s scholarships or all these other things,” he said. He concluded by asking, “Were we right in Florida to enact the anti-Sharia bill?” Rep. Byron Donalds answered: “Well, number one, Florida was correct in the anti-Sharia bill. Sharia law is incompatible with American constitutionalism and Western civilization.”
Watch DeSantis discuss Florida’s terrorist designations and anti-Sharia legislation here:
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The governor’s office outlined the legislation’s provisions in a July 1st announcement. HB 1471 established a formal designation process through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The legislation also prevents foreign or religious legal codes from overriding the U.S. or Florida constitutions in Florida courts and creates state enforcement mechanisms against material support for designated organizations.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor’s November 4th order granted only part of CAIR’s request for preliminary relief. Winsor left the designations intact while blocking enforcement that would prevent the organizations from obtaining legal representation. The decision addressed requests for interim relief rather than resolving the lawsuit or determining whether the organizations were, in fact, terrorist organizations. The ACLU, which represents the groups, announced that CAIR and CAIR-Florida would appeal and confirmed they were shutting down their advocacy and operations in the state.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.