Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit seeking to shut down the operations of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood in Texas, marking the first major enforcement action stemming from Gov. Greg Abbott’s designation of the groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Collin County, asks a state court to issue temporary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, and their affiliated entities from operating, fundraising, recruiting members, or engaging in organizational activity within Texas.
“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.”
The state’s petition alleges that CAIR functions as the American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Islamist organization with a stated objective of establishing a global Islamic state governed by Sharia law. The lawsuit asserts that the groups’ activities constitute an ongoing public nuisance and pose a threat to the safety and security of Texans.
Paxton’s lawsuit relies heavily on findings from the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, in which federal prosecutors identified CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator and presented evidence linking the organization to Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. The filing also cites FBI testimony and court rulings concluding there was “ample evidence” of CAIR’s association with Hamas.
Under Abbott’s November 2025 proclamation, the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR were designated as both foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under Texas property law. That designation prohibits the groups from acquiring property in Texas and authorizes heightened enforcement actions by the state.
The lawsuit seeks declaratory relief affirming those designations and asks the court to enjoin the organizations from continuing any activities in Texas, including fundraising and soliciting members.
CAIR responded by calling the lawsuit a “politically motivated anti-Muslim publicity stunt that wastes more taxpayer dollars.”
“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. 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,” the group said in a statement.
The legal action follows weeks of controversy involving CAIR-linked activities in Texas, including proposed Islamic Games events on public school campuses and scrutiny of alleged Sharia courts operating outside the bounds of state law.
Just last month, the Austin City Council honored the terrorist organization with CAIR-Austin Day.
CAIR has previously denied any ties to terrorism and has accused state officials of targeting Muslim families and religious expression. The organization is currently suing Abbott and Paxton in federal court over the terrorist designation.
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