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Muslims in Texas Are Harassed and Surveilled. Greg Abbot Is Making It Worse.

In November, the governor issued a proclamation declaring CAIR, the country’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, a terrorist organization. “It’s about sowing suspicion.”

A press conference held by the Council on American–Islamic Relations.

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is the largest and most prominent Muslim civil liberties organization in the United States, founded in 1994 to provide legal support, monitor hate crimes, promote government relations with the Muslim community, and mobilize Muslim voters. For the last few years, it has also been deeply involved in student organizing and pro-Palestinian activism following Israel’s assault on Gaza.

When CAIR’s national executive director Nihad Awad made comments in the days immediately following the October 7 attacks saying that he was “happy to see people breaking the siege” of Gaza and arguing that “the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense,” the Biden administration publicly disavowed the group. In August, Senator Marco Rubio was asked in a telephone interview about the possibility of identifying CAIR as a terrorist organization alongside other groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since then, criticism of CAIR, especially among Republicans in Texas, has only intensified. On November 18, Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation declaring CAIR a “terrorist organization.” The order branded the group as a “front” for Hamas and, among other sweeping restrictions, barred the organization from purchasing land in the state.

Following Abbott’s declaration, the acting state comptroller has attempted to block certain private schools from participating in the state’s voucher program over their association with CAIR. In December, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a similar declaration in his own state. That same month, Abbott sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asking that he revoke CAIR’s tax-exempt nonprofit status. The Department of the Treasury has not responded to Abbott’s request, though Abbott has similarly directed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to launch an investigation against CAIR to possibly remove its nonprofit status, which has culminated in Paxton filing a lawsuit against CAIR earlier this month to ban its operations within Texas.

Governor Abbott’s proclamation represents a dramatic escalation of a much larger trend of Islamophobia within Texas politics. Early last year, Abbott and other prominent Texas Republicans waged a public battle against the East Plano Islamic Center over its proposed expansion—dubbed “EPIC City,” which would include residential housing, a faith-based school, and community facilities. A lightning rod for conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim rhetoric across the state, the project was repeatedly mischaracterized and targeted with intense scrutiny by prominent Texas Republicans like Abbott as an attempt to establish a “Sharia city.” State investigations and legal challenges over land use and governance soon followed.

For CAIR’s leadership, the performative proclamation holds real implications for Muslims in the state. Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR’s national deputy director, said the group had received no prior formal communication about the designation. “That shows you again, it’s a publicity stunt. They didn’t demand any information from us. They didn’t send us any notice,” Mitchell said.........

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