12/15/25 Reposted from splcenter.org
TAMPA, Florida — Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Akeel & Valentine, CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF) and the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) announced the filing of a federal lawsuit challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “blatantly unconstitutional” executive order targeting the Council on American-Islamic Relations, America’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and its Florida chapter, CAIR-Florida.
On Dec. 8, 2025, DeSantis issued Executive Order 25-244 (“EO”), which purports to unilaterally designate America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a “terrorist organization.” The order directs Florida’s executive and cabinet agencies, as well as counties and municipalities, to deny local or state contracts, employment, funding, benefits, and privileges to CAIR and anyone known to provide “material support” to CAIR, including “expert advice or assistance.” The order also directs Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol to pursue unspecified “measures” against unspecified CAIR.
The lawsuit filed today in the Northern District of Florida argues that DeSantis has violated the Constitution of the United States and otherwise exceeded his legal authority. Among other violations, the lawsuit specifically contends that that DeSantis has:
- Illegally usurped the exclusive authority of the federal government to designate Americans organizations as terrorist groups based on allegations of material support for foreign terrorist groups.
- Violated the Constitution’s guarantee of due process by unilaterally designating CAIR a criminal actor and then ordering immediate punitive, discriminatory action against CAIR and its supporters without any chance to appeal that punishment or designation.
- Violated the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech by punishing Americans who seek to provide CAIR with material support, including speech in the form “assistance” and “advice,” and retaliating against CAIR for speech he finds objectionable, including the organization’s past lawsuit against him and its activism in support of Palestinian human rights.
“CAIR is the nation’s largest American-Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. Governor DeSantis’s executive order is a clear attempt to portray American Muslims as threats and continue this baseless culture of fear of Muslims that too many have pushed for decades,” said Arthur Ago, legal director, SPLC. “SPLC will continue to fight for our partners at CAIR and CAIR Florida and tell Governor DeSantis that hate and racism will not be tolerated. We will stand up for CAIR to ensure that it can continue its critical mission of advocacy, civil rights and interfaith work on behalf of Muslim communities in Florida and across the country.”
“No politician has the right to shred the Constitution or upend our entire legal system by unilaterally declaring an American organization he dislikes a criminal actor and then ordering punishments for that group and its supporters, all without any due process and any legal authority,” said Lena Masri, litigation director, CAIR. “This is still America, where due process, free speech and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution matter. We look forward to once again protecting the rights of all Americans — liberal and conservative, religious and secular — to engage in activism without fear of illegal government retaliation.”
“MLFA is proud to once again confront another rogue governor’s lawless attempt to silence CAIR and the broader American Muslim community due to their activism,” said Marium Uddin, legal director, Muslim Legal Fund of America. “Just as racist governors once targeted the NAACP using baseless witch hunts, illegal executive orders and bigoted conspiracy theories because of its successful advocacy of civil rights for Black Americans, Governor DeSantis targets CAIR today with this illegal executive order because of its successful advocacy for civil rights for American Muslims. MLFA is committed to working with our partners to ensure that Governor DeSantis, like the bigoted governors of 1960s before him, ultimately fails.”
“This is a historic moment for the rule of law, and Akeel & Valentine is grateful to be part of this fight to protect the rule of law,” said Akeel & Valentine. “To be clear, the lawsuit we have filed is not about whether Ron DeSantis is entitled to express disagreement with CAIR’s advocacy for free speech and Palestinian human rights. He is. Nor is this lawsuit about vindicating CAIR as an independent, law-abiding American civil rights organization. It obviously is. This lawsuit is about something bigger: whether Governor DeSantis or any government official can flout the law and exceed the power of their office in order to bully, intimidate and ultimately silence Americans they disagree with. This is about every American’s freedom to speak.”
In a joint statement, CAIR and CAIR-Florida said:
“We thank CAIR Legal Defense Fund, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Akeel & Valentine for defending not only our constitutional rights, but the constitutional rights of all Americans. We are taking legal action against Ron DeSantis to remind him that he is the governor of Florida, not the king of Florida. While our esteemed legal representatives stand up for our rights and the rights of their supporters in a court of law, CAIR and CAIR-Florida remain squarely focused on defending the rights of the Florida Muslim community and their neighbors of all faiths and backgrounds.”
The lawsuit can be found here.
