CAIR LDF, MLFA, SPLC and Akeel & Valentine Sue Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Over ‘Blatantly Unconstitutional’ Executive Order

Akeel & Valentine, CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF), the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced on Monday Dec. 15, 2025 the filing of a federal lawsuit challenging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ “blatantly unconstitutional” executive order targeting the Council on American-Islamic Relations, America’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and its Florida chapter, CAIR-Florida.

SEE: READ THE LAWSUIT

MEDIA ADVISORY: On Tuesday, December 16, at 12:30 pm ET, CAIR-Florida plans to host a press conference in Tampa to address this development.

Separately, on December 16 at 11:30 am ET, attorneys representing CAIR LDF, MLFA, SPLC, and Akeel & Valentine plan to hold a virtual media availability for reporters to discuss the lawsuit in detail and answer questions. Reporters may contact CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper (202-744-7726, [email protected]) for an access link.

CAIR sues racist Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

On December 8, 2025, Governor Ronald DeSantis issued Executive Order 25-244 (“EO”), which purports to unilaterally designate America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a “terrorist organization.” The order directs Florida’s executive and cabinet agencies, as well as counties and municipalities, to deny local or state contracts, employment, funding, benefits, and privileges to CAIR and anyone known to provide “material support” to CAIR, including “expert advice or assistance.” The order also directs Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol to pursue unspecified “measures” against unspecified CAIR.

The lawsuit filed today in the Northern District of Florida argues that DeSantis has violated the Constitution of the United States and otherwise exceeded his legal authority. Among other violations, the lawsuit specifically contends that that DeSantis has:

illegally usurped the exclusive authority of the federal government to designate American organizations as terrorist groups based on allegations of material support for foreign terrorist groups.
violated the Constitution’s guarantee of due process by unilaterally designating CAIR a criminal actor and then ordering immediate punitive, discriminatory action against CAIR and its supporters without any chance to appeal that punishment or designation.
violated the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech by punishing Americans who seek to provide CAIR with material support, including speech in the form “assistance” and “advice,” and retaliating against CAIR for speech he finds objectionable, including the organization’s past lawsuit against him and its activism in support of Palestinian human rights.

In a statement, CAIR Litigation Director Lena Masri said:

“No politician has the right to shred the Constitution or upend our entire legal system by unilaterally declaring an American organization he dislikes a criminal actor and then ordering punishments for that group and its supporters, all without any due process and any legal authority. This is still America, where due process, free speech and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution matter. We look forward to once again protecting the rights of all Americans—liberal and conservative, religious and secular—to engage in activism without fear of illegal government retaliation.”

In a statement, Southern Poverty Law Center Legal Director Arthur Ago said:

“CAIR is the nation’s largest American-Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. Governor DeSantis’s executive order is a clear attempt to portray American Muslims as threats and continue this baseless culture of fear of Muslims that too many have pushed for decades. SPLC will continue to fight for our partners at CAIR and CAIR Florida and tell Governor DeSantis that hate and racism will not be tolerated. We will stand up for CAIR to ensure that it can continue its critical mission of advocacy, civil rights and interfaith work on behalf of Muslim communities in Florida and across the country.”

In a statement, Muslim Legal Fund of America Legal Director Marium Uddin said:

“MLFA is proud to once again confront another rogue governor’s lawless attempt to silence CAIR and the broader American Muslim community due to their activism. Just as racist governors once targeted the NAACP using baseless witch hunts, illegal executive orders and bigoted conspiracy theories because of its successful advocacy of civil rights for Black Americans, Governor DeSantis targets CAIR today with this illegal executive order because of its successful advocacy for civil rights for American Muslims. MLFA is committed to working with our partners to ensure that Governor DeSantis, like the bigoted governors of 1960s before him, ultimately fails.”

In a statement, Akeel & Valentine said:

“This is a historic moment for the rule of law, and Akeel & Valentine is grateful to be part of this fight to protect the rule of law. To be clear, the lawsuit we have filed is not about whether Ron DeSantis is entitled to express disagreement with CAIR’s advocacy for free speech and Palestinian human rights. He is. Nor is this lawsuit about vindicating CAIR as an independent, law-abiding American civil rights organization. It obviously is. This lawsuit is about something bigger: whether Governor DeSantis or any government official can flout the law and exceed the power of their office in order to bully, intimidate and ultimately silence Americans they disagree with. This is about every American’s freedom to speak.”

In a joint statement, CAIR and CAIR-Florida said:

“We thank CAIR Legal Defense Fund, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Akeel & Valentine for defending not only our constitutional rights, but the constitutional rights of all Americans. We are taking legal action against Ron DeSantis to remind him that he is the governor of Florida, not the king of Florida. While our esteemed legal representatives stand up for our rights and the rights of their supporters in a court of law, CAIR and CAIR-Florida remain squarely focused on defending the rights of the Florida Muslim community and their neighbors of all faiths and backgrounds.”

BACKGROUNDER:

Last week, CAIR sent a formal letter to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that denounced his unconstitutional executive order targeting CAIR and CAIR-Florida. In the letter, CAIR wrote that Governor DeSantis does “not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions foreign terrorist groups” nor “is there any basis to level this smear against our organization.”

The letter also read, in part:

“With 25 chapters, dozens of attorneys, and support from thousands of donors across America, CAIR has advanced free speech, religious freedom, and racial equality. In 2024, CAIR won a historic 9-0 Supreme Court ruling that protects the rights of all Americans.

“CAIR also speaks out against injustice here and abroad, from hate crimes to terrorism to ethnic cleansing to genocide. In fact, CAIR spoke up against ISIS terrorism so often that the group called for the assassination of our national executive director.”

“While CAIR has strongly opposed the Israeli government’s violent, genocidal oppression of the Palestinian people, CAIR has shown moral consistency by speaking out against Hamas violence against Israeli civilians, from such attacks on Oct. 7th, 2023, to suicide bombings in the 1990s. This has been CAIR’s principled position for 31 years.”

CAIR also directly confronted Governor DeSantis with his long history of targeting Americans critical of the Israeli government’s human rights abuses:

“The real reason anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian politicians obsessively target CAIR and other American Muslim institutions is because of our steadfast advocacy for Palestinian rights. Indeed, your office spent years serving the Israeli government to the detriment of Florida. You hosted your first official cabinet meeting in Israel. You diverted at least $25 million in Florida taxpayer dollars to the Israeli government’s bonds. You issued an order threatening to shut down every Florida college’s pro-Palestine student groups, only to retreat when CAIR sued you in federal court. You repeatedly embraced the wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. You ignored the plight of a Florida teenager kidnapped by the Israeli military and tortured in an Israeli prison for nine months.

“By now defaming CAIR-Florida with an unconstitutional proclamation and debunked conspiracy theories, you have once again shown that your top priority is protecting a foreign government, not serving the people of people of Florida.”

Last month, the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), the CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF) and Akeel & Valentine, PLC announced the filing of a federal lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to block enforcement of Abbott’s similar “unconstitutional and defamatory” Nov. 18th proclamation, which falsely declared the Texas chapter of the CAIR a “foreign terrorist organization” and threatened various civil penalties against the civil rights organization if it continues to serve the people of Texas.

CAIR Op-Ed: Abbott’s attacks on Muslims draw on an old religious bigotry playbook

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

La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.

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