Texas Sues Muslim Brotherhood And CAIR To Block Operations In Texas

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to ban the groups from operating in Texas, where they were recently designated as terror organizations.

“Sharia law and the jihadists who follow sharia law have no business being in Texas,” Paxton said in a statement. “Radical Islamic terrorists are antithetical to law and order, endanger the people of Texas, and are an existential threat to our values.”

The lawsuit builds on earlier action by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who labeled the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR foreign terrorist organizations and urged the federal government to revoke CAIR’s tax-exempt status. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a similar designation in late 2025. CAIR sued both states, denied supporting terrorism, and accused DeSantis of being “Israel first.”

The move comes as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood chapters, which included designating three foreign branches of the organization as terrorist groups last month.

Paxton’s lawsuit targets the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, and CAIR’s chapters in Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth. It seeks to prohibit the groups and their affiliates from owning property in Texas or soliciting or recruiting members.

Paxton argues that the Muslim Brotherhood is covertly operating under CAIR, which he identifies as the group’s “American chapter.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical terror organization that exists to usurp governmental power and establish dominion through sharia law,” Paxton said. “The terrorist ties are unquestionable.”

Paxton claimed that a CAIR-Texas founding board member was convicted in 2008 of funneling $12.4 million to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation, with CAIR named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.

“As the lawsuit notes, CAIR is undeniably the American face of an international terrorist organization,” Paxton added.

When designating the Muslim Brotherhood, Abbott emphasized the group’s suspected ties to Hamas, which has been a U.S.-designated terrorist organization since 1997 and is the Muslim Brotherhood’s Gaza-based branch, which kidnapped and murdered American citizens during the October 7 attack in Israel.

Abbott also cited a recent report that claims CAIR awarded $1,000 cash grants to university students who disrupted classes and intimidated or harassed fellow students “while celebrating Hamas’ October 7th attack.”

“Americans have generous hearts, and federal law wisely creates incentives to donate to nonprofit organizations that promote the public good,” Abbott wrote. “But charity must not become a backdoor to sponsor terrorism, endanger Americans, and subvert our democracy.”

CAIR dismissed the lawsuit in a statement to The Daily Wire, calling it “defamatory and unconstitutional.”

“Ken Paxton is late. CAIR has already filed a federal lawsuit to block enforcement of Governor Abbott’s defamatory and unconstitutional proclamation. We have also defeated Greg Abbott’s attacks on the Constitution three different times in a row. We look forward to doing so again. Just as Mr. Paxton’s attempt to shut down a Latino voting rights group failed last week, his latest anti-Muslim publicity stunt also appears doomed to fail. The people of Texas elected Mr. Paxton to serve them, not to silence them for daring to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza. CAIR-Texas will be serving and protecting the people of Texas long after Ken Paxton leaves office, God willing,” the statement said.