Muslim groups, other leaders demand Abbott rescind CAIR's ‘terrorist’ designation: 'Defamatory'

A group of Muslim and interfaith leaders are urging Texas Gov Greg Abbott a Republican to reverse his proclamation designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization Texas s designation is state-level only It does not carry the legal force of a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization FTO listing which only the U S State Department can issue Abbott s proclamation therefore does not trigger federal terrorism penalties or administration The leaders of several Muslim groups held a news conference on Tuesday to denounce the governor s proclamation which also labeled CAIR as a a transnational criminal organization The groups called on the governor to retract his labeling of the civil rights group calling it defamatory destructive and dangerous according to Fox MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP CAIR SUES TEXAS OVER ABBOTT'S TERRORIST DESIGNATIONThis comes after CAIR filed a lawsuit against Texas over the governor's declaration arguing that it violates both the U S Constitution and state law CAIR argues the order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections and that Texas overstepped its authority because terrorism designations fall under federal not state jurisdiction The governor is attempting to punish the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization solely because he disagrees with its protected First Amendment rights to criticize a foreign state that is conducting genocide This is not only contrary to the United States Constitution but finds no backing in any Texas law Mustaffa Carroll the executive director for CAIR Dallas Fort Worth declared at the news conference on Tuesday You know that CAIR has condemned Hamas attacks You know that CAIR has spent years fighting terrorism and bigotry You know that the terrorism boogeyman you invoke is nothing more than a tired formulated playbook to stoke fear of Muslims Marium Uddin of the Muslim Legal Defense Fund commented on Tuesday Leaders from other faiths including Jewish voices also spoke out against Abbott's label We stand steadfast in solidarity with our comrades in CAIR and in unwavering help in their lawsuit against Abbott s false and unconstitutional proclamation Jewish Voice for Peace's Deborah Armintor revealed State Rep Terry Meza a Democrat added that the governor's words are not just wrong they re dangerous Making comments like this is dangerous to our Muslim region TEXAS GOV ABBOTT DECLARES CAIR MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS TERRORIST GROUPS PREVENTING LAND PURCHASESThe lawsuit is ongoing and it remains unclear whether a court will uphold Abbott s order or strike it down as exceeding state authority The governor s decree bars CAIR from buying land in the Lone Star State under a new statute aimed at curbing purchases tied to foreign adversaries Abbott s order also extended the terrorist label to the Muslim Brotherhood despite the federal regime never classifying either group that way