November 19, 2025
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), the nation’s oldest and largest progressive bar association committed to the legal defense of people’s movements, unequivocally condemns the Texas Governor’s November 18th proclamation designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a “terrorist” and “transnational criminal” organization. This designation is without legal or factual basis and constitutes a dangerous escalation of anti-Muslim political rhetoric weaponized to suppress constitutionally protected advocacy and civil rights work.
The Governor does not have the legal authority to unilaterally declare any U.S.-based nonprofit a terrorist organization. He is attempting to bypass federal jurisdiction and decades of legal precedent, which reserve such determinations for the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury, notwithstanding the fact that federal designation mechanisms are also frequently weaponized for political repression. As CAIR correctly notes in its November 18th response to the Texas governor: “You do not have the authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions terrorist groups, nor is there any basis to level this smear against our organization.”
This action is a political stunt, not a lawful designation. The Texas proclamation has no application under federal material support statutes and carries no enforceable criminal or counterterrorism consequences. Its limited impact is confined to obscure real-property prohibitions under state law- an attempt to restrict CAIR and Muslim communities from acquiring or retaining land, echoing historical repression tactics used against marginalized groups. The fact that property ownership was singled out makes clear that the proclamation is intended to intimidate, stigmatize, and choke the physical presence and institutional stability of Muslim-led organizing in Texas.
More troublingly, this designation perpetuates blatant anti-Muslim discrimination, aligning the state with known anti-Muslim extremist rhetoric and fear-mongering. As CAIR’s letter notes: “Your office has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims…with debunked conspiracy theories and made-up quotes.” This is an alarming abuse of state power that targets protected speech, religion, and association under the First Amendment.
CAIR is an American civil rights organization with a 30-year track record of defending civil liberties and opposing all forms of bigotry – including Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, anti-Palestinian hate, antisemitism and unjust violence. CAIR has successfully sued Governor Abbott three times, blocking him from violating the First Amendment rights of Texas Muslims who dared to criticize the Israeli government’s abuses. By falsely conflating constitutionally protected advocacy with terrorism, the Texas Governor is engaging in a modern form of McCarthyism that threatens the work of all communities engaged in anti-war, anti-imperialist, and human rights defense.
The National Lawyers Guild stands alongside CAIR and all Muslim-led institutions targeted by state repression. We call on legal advocates, civil rights organizations, bar associations, and elected officials to publicly reject this designation, continue supporting CAIR, and prepare for necessary constitutional litigation. We further urge them not to give into the state’s campaign to chill solidarity and isolate CAIR. There are no legal consequences under federal law for associating with CAIR, supporting its work, or engaging with Muslim advocacy organizations, despite Texas’ politically motivated proclamation.
The NLG remains committed to challenging state-led anti-Muslim policies and defending the rights of organizations resisting genocide, ethnic cleansing, surveillance, and repression. We urge immediate solidarity with CAIR and remain committed to confronting this unlawful designation.
National Lawyers Guild
