Texas AG Ken Paxton sues to boot Muslims’ CAIR from the state

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking the ouster of CAIR from the Lone Star State, claiming the Muslim rights group violated a state ban on any entity engaging in terrorism.

Mr. Paxton, a Republican running for U.S. Senate this year, wants to eject the Council on American-Islamic Relations, including its chapters in Houston, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth.

CAIR says its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.

Yet Mr. Paxton’s suit, filed in federal court in Collin County, alleges CAIR is fundamentally tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that’s been designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and other countries. 

The attorney general also pointed to a CAIR-Texas founding board member who was convicted in 2008 of funneling $12.4 million to Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, through the Holy Land Foundation.

“The connection between CAIR and terrorist financing wasn’t theoretical — it was criminal,” Mr. Paxton’s lawsuit says.

He said CAIR runs afoul of a 2025 Texas law that bans land sales to companies and organizations designated by the governor as transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs.  

In November, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR as a TCO and a foreign terrorist organization.

“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,” Mr. Paxton said in a press release. “Radical Islamic terrorists are antithetical to law and order, endanger the people of Texas, and are an existential threat to our values.”

In a response, CAIR said Mr. Paxton is “late” because it’s already filed a lawsuit to block enforcement of Mr. Abbott’s “defamatory and unconstitutional proclamation.”

The group said it looks forward to winning in court.

“The people of Texas elected Mr. Paxton to serve them, not to silence Texans who dared to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” CAIR said in a statement to The Washington Times. “CAIR-Texas will be serving and protecting the people of Texas long after Ken Paxton leaves office, God willing.”

The Texas government is moving aggressively to enforce its new laws.

The state launched investigations of some schools that planned to host CAIR-sponsored Islamic Games, and the governor told Mr. Paxton to strip CAIR of its nonprofit status and ability to operate in the state.

The Paxton lawsuit seeks to enjoin CAIR from operating in Texas or recruiting members.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, followed Mr. Abbott’s lead in December and designated CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization.

Mr. DeSantis ordered state agencies should not do business with the organization or award it contracts.

CAIR provides legal representation to Muslim individuals and businesses that the group says face discrimination and lobbies Congress by weighing in on legislation affecting the Muslim community.

The organization says it is often the victim of unfounded smears. For instance, it said it condemned the violence against Israelis during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by Palestinian terrorists.

“CAIR has always condemned violence against civilians — including on October 7th,” its website says. “Any claim otherwise is a smear. Our very public record on this includes over 100 statements since 1994 condemning terrorism worldwide. That’s 30 years of CAIR rejecting unjust violence in every form.”

Mr. Paxton is trying to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, a fellow Republican, in a GOP primary battle in Texas this year. Rep. Wesley Hunt is also in the three-way battle for the nomination.