Years of working as an Islamist front group and supporting Hamas violence against Israel has finally caught up with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). On November 18, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott formally designated CAIR as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Transnational Criminal Organization. In the proclamation, Abbott highlighted CAIR’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood—which he also designated as a terrorist organization—and recounted numerous expressions of support for jihadist terror offered by CAIR leaders over the years. The proclamation, citing the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, also lists several CAIR officials and affiliates previously convicted or implicated in terror-related crimes.
These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” said Governor Abbott. “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable. Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”
CAIR’s Response
Predictably enough, CAIR responded to Abbott’s decision by smearing him as an “Israel-first” politician and characterizing the allegations as “debunked conspiracy theories and made-up quotes.”
“Although we are flattered by Greg Abbott’s obsession with our civil rights organization, his publicity stunt masquerading as a proclamation has no basis in fact or law,” the organization stated in an email to Focus on Western Islamism. “By defaming a prominent American Muslim institution with debunked conspiracy theories and made-up quotes, Mr. Abbott has once again shown that his top priority is advancing anti-Muslim bigotry, not serving the people of Texas.”
In its statement, CAIR declared “We have consistently condemned all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide and terrorism.”
CAIR’s Record
The notion that CAIR has condemned unjust violence doesn’t hold up in light of the information cited in Abbott’s proclamation, which reports that in late 2023, CAIR’s longtime Executive Director, Nihad Awad, openly endorsed Hamas’s October 7 massacre at a Washington, D.C. conference. At the event, Awad boasted, “I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing off the shackles of occupation.”
Abbott’s proclamation also highlighted damning information about numerous CAIR officials and associates—facts the organization conspicuously avoided addressing in its response. For example, the proclamation cites Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of CAIR’s Texas chapter, who was convicted of funneling money to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation. It also cites Abdurahman Alamoudi, a prominent Islamist activist who spoke at a CAIR event, who was later convicted for financially supporting Al-Qaeda. Similarly, the proclamation points to Sami Al-Arian, an activist lauded by CAIR in 2014 who pleaded guilty to providing material support to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The proclamation also cites Randall “Todd” Royer, now known as Ismail Royer, who served as CAIR’s civil rights coordinator before receiving a 20-year sentence for his role in aiding a jihadist group engaged in violent operations abroad. (Royer has since denounced his actions.) In sum, CAIR’s well-documented history, laid out in detail in the proclamation, undermines its claim to be a mainstream civil rights organization.
Will Other States Follow Suit?
The Middle East Forum (MEF) celebrated Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s proclamation as “vindication” of its efforts to educate policymakers about CAIR’s influence and agenda.
“For years, MEF has documented how CAIR—founded by convicted Hamas financier Ghassan Elashi, who is serving 65 years in federal prison—masquerades as a civil rights organization while maintaining its terror support infrastructure. Governor Abbott just shattered that facade with the force of law,” said Middle East Forum Executive Director Gregg Roman.
Benjamin Baird, director of MEF Action, also lauded Governor Abbott’s decision, declaring that “CAIR has operated with impunity for far too long, hiding behind a veneer of civil rights activism while advancing the Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda. Governor Abbott’s designation strips away that disguise and exposes CAIR for what it truly is—an organization born from the Hamas network that continues to undermine American security. This is a watershed moment that other states must follow.”
