NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
A group of Muslim and interfaith leaders are urging Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, to reverse his proclamation designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
The Texas designation is only at the state level. It does not have the legal force of a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, which only the US State Department can issue. Abbott's proclamation, therefore, does not trigger federal sanctions or authorities for terrorism.
Leaders of several Muslim groups held a press conference Tuesday to denounce the governor's proclamation, which also called CAIR a “transnational criminal organization.”
The groups called on the governor to retract his label from the civil rights group, calling it defamatory, destructive and dangerous, according to Fox 4.
CAIR MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP SUES TEXAS OVER ABBOTT'S 'TERRORIST' DESIGNATION
Muslim and interfaith leaders are urging Texas Governor Greg Abbott to reverse his proclamation designating CAIR as a terrorist organization. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
This comes after CAIR filed a lawsuit against Texas over the governor's statement, arguing that it violates both the U.S. Constitution and state law.
CAIR argues that the order violates First Amendment rights and due process protections, and that Texas overstepped its authority because terrorism designations fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction.
“The governor is attempting to punish the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization simply because it disagrees with its First Amendment rights to criticize a foreign state that is carrying out genocide. Not only is this contrary to the United States Constitution, it finds no support in any Texas law,” Mustaffa Carroll, executive director of CAIR Dallas Fort Worth, said at Tuesday's news conference.
“You know that CAIR has condemned Hamas attacks. You know that CAIR has spent 31 years fighting terrorism and intolerance. You know that the specter of terrorism you invoke is nothing more than an old manual formulated to stoke fear of Muslims,” Marium Uddin of the Muslim Legal Defense Fund said Tuesday.
CAIR filed a lawsuit against Texas over the governor's statement, arguing that it violates both the U.S. Constitution and state law. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Leaders of other faiths, including Jewish voices, also spoke out against Abbott's label.
“We stand firm in solidarity with our CAIR comrades and in unwavering support in their lawsuit against Abbott’s false and unconstitutional proclamation,” said Deborah Armintor of Jewish Voice for Peace.
State Rep. Terry Meza, a Democrat, added that the governor's words “are not only wrong, they are dangerous. Making comments like this are dangerous for our Muslim community.”
THE GOVERNMENT OF TEXAS ABBOTT DECLARES CAIR AND THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS TERRORIST GROUPS THAT PREVENT THE PURCHASE OF LAND
Muslim groups called on the governor to retract his CAIR rating, calling it defamatory, destructive and dangerous. (Antranik Tavitian/Reuters)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The lawsuit is ongoing and it is not yet clear whether a court will uphold Abbott's order or vacate it for exceeding state authority.
The governor's decree prohibits CAIR buying land in the Lone Star State under a new statute aimed at curbing purchases linked to “foreign adversaries.”
Abbott's order also extended the “terrorist” label to the Muslim Brotherhood, even though the federal government never classified either group that way.
