OMM Newsroom
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent US Muslim civil rights organization, will suspend its operations in Florida after a federal court rejected its request to block the state’s decision to designate it as a “terrorist organization.”
The ruling was issued on Wednesday night, after Florida moved to classify CAIR under a newly enacted state law that allows authorities to impose restrictions and penalties on designated groups. The designation took effect on Thursday, requiring CAIR and its Florida chapter to cease operations in the state, according to NBC News. Anadolu Agency reported the decision.
CAIR says it will appeal
CAIR said on Thursday that it would appeal the ruling. The organization called the allegations against it baseless and argued that the law violates its constitutional rights to due process and freedom of expression under the First Amendment.
Florida chapter warns of consequences
In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, CAIR-Florida Executive Director Hiba Rahim strongly rejected the designation, warning that the legislation had “profoundly disturbing parallels to authoritarian states.”
Rahim also cautioned that labeling Muslim nonprofit organizations as “terrorist” groups would have “devastating consequences for our rights, our supporters, and the communities we serve.”
Comparing the case with a landmark legal battle involving the civil rights movement, Rahim said: “Years ago, when Alabama banned the NAACP from operating in the state, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately issued a landmark decision protecting every American’s freedom of association.”
“We trust that the courts in our case, too, will ultimately uphold the fundamental rights we are entitled to as Americans and the constitutional freedoms that protect every one of us,” she added.
