Texas sues CAIR, Muslim Brotherhood to stop operations in Lone Star state

The lawsuit comes after Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott designated both organizations as foreign terrorist organizations last year, which forbids them and their affiliates from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas and allows increased enforcement against the groups.

By Misty Severi

Published: February 5, 2026 5:02pm

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and its Austin, Houston, and DFW chapters to prevent the organizations from operating in Texas.

The lawsuit comes after Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott designated both organizations as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations last year, which forbids them and their affiliates from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas and allows increased enforcement against the groups.

Paxton claimed in a news release that the Muslim Brotherhood exists to "usurp governmental power and establish dominion through sharia law," and that a founding member of CAIR Texas was convicted in 2008 of funneling $12.4 million to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation.

“Sharia law and the jihadists who follow sharia law have no business being in Texas,” Paxton said. “I am in full support of Governor Abbott’s lawful declaration that CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are foreign terrorist organizations, and it’s imperative that they are stopped from operating in Texas.

"Radical Islamic terrorists are antithetical to law and order, endanger the people of Texas, and are an existential threat to our values," he added.

Neither group has been declared a terrorist organization by the federal government, and CAIR dismissed the lawsuit as "another frivolous, politically motivated anti-Muslim publicity stunt.”

"Just as Mr. Paxton's attempt to shut down a Latino voting rights group failed last week, his latest attempt to silence a minority group also appears doomed to fail," CAIR said in a statement. "The people of Texas elected Mr. Paxton to serve them, not to silence them for daring to oppose Israel's genocide in Gaza. CAIR-Texas plans to continue serving and protecting the people of Texas long after Ken Paxton leaves office."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.