CAIR and its Florida chapter are asking a federal judge to block Florida’s designation of them as domestic terrorist organizations before the designations are scheduled under HB 1471 to take effect Nov. 5. CAIR-Florida is preparing for the possibility it may have to stop operating in the state if the designation takes effect without court intervention. The group has paused recurring donations on platforms it controls and is urging supporters to cancel or pause automatic payments before Nov. 5.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida is weighing an emergency request from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and its Florida chapter to block the state's designation of both groups as domestic terrorist organizations, according to Tampa Bay 28. Ashley Gorski, senior counsel with the ACLU's National Security Project and an attorney representing CAIR and CAIR-Florida, said the organizations asked the federal court to block enforcement of HB 1471, arguing the law violates the First Amendment and due process protections. Without a court order blocking the law before it takes effect, Gorski said, CAIR and CAIR-Florida would have to shut their doors in Florida.
The ACLU of Florida has also said the organizations would have to cease operating in the state on Nov. 5 unless the court intervenes. Its press release says the Northern District of Florida heard arguments, while the ACLU urged emergency relief. As reported by the Tallahassee Democrat, CAIR and its Florida chapter asked U.S. District Judge Winsor to temporarily remove the designation.
How Florida's Designation Law Took Shape
HB 1471 created a state process for designating domestic and foreign terrorist organizations and took effect July 1, per the same ACLU account referenced above. Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the bill on April 6. Under the law, Florida's chief of domestic security may designate an organization when statutory requirements are met, and the law requires written notice before a designation is issued. The governor and Cabinet can then approve or reject that designation by majority vote.
Notice and Review Under HB 1471
The Florida House of Representatives’ final bill analysis says notice of intent must be delivered to a targeted organization when it has a readily discernible location or office and notice can be safely furnished. The analysis does not establish what notice CAIR-Florida received. The analysis also says a designated organization or any of its members may challenge a designation in Leon County circuit court within 30 days after its publication in the Florida Administrative Register. That state-law review process is distinct from CAIR and CAIR-Florida’s current federal lawsuit.
On Sept. 29, DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted to designate more than 90 groups, including CAIR, as terrorist organizations, as reported by WUSF. The outlet reports that the designations are scheduled to take effect Nov. 5. CAIR legal team members attended that public meeting intending to speak for the organizations, but Gorski said DeSantis did not allow them to do so.
HB 1471 makes it a crime to knowingly provide, attempt to provide or conspire to provide material support or resources to a designated domestic terrorist organization, and the application of that provision depends on the statutory requirements and the facts of particular conduct. The law also restricts certain state and local government funding and support involving designated organizations, touches public schools, colleges and universities, and allows the Florida Department of State to pursue administrative dissolution proceedings against certain designated corporations under specified circumstances. The ACLU of Florida says violations of the law's prohibitions can carry penalties of up to life imprisonment. The DeSantis administration has said HB 1471 established a permanent framework for terrorist designations, restrictions involving taxpayer-funded institutions, and criminal penalties for material support.
Constitutional Arguments on Both Sides
The current federal lawsuit alleges violations of the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause and the Constitution's supremacy clause. The ACLU contends CAIR and CAIR-Florida's activities — including pro bono legal representation, community events, educational social-media materials and community outreach — are protected by the First Amendment, and argues the organizations were denied a meaningful opportunity to challenge the designation before it was approved. The ACLU also argues the judicial review available under the law omits the right to call witnesses and cross-examine them, and says neither CAIR nor CAIR-Florida has been charged with or convicted of a crime, nor does either group engage in terrorist activity, according to the plaintiffs' position.
Florida's attorneys countered in court that the state's law is regulating non-expressive conduct, which they argue isn't protected by the First Amendment, per the Tallahassee Democrat's reporting. The federal court has not resolved the constitutional claims in the current lawsuit. Gorski said the court's ruling date is unknown, though the ACLU hopes for a prompt decision, and she noted that CAIR and CAIR-Florida may still appeal even after Nov. 5 if the decision is unfavorable.
A Pattern Beyond This One Case
Florida’s earlier effort to target CAIR also faced a federal challenge, but that case concerned an executive order rather than HB 1471. A separate challenge to DeSantis’s Executive Order 25-244 resulted in a preliminary injunction in March 2026, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In its case record, the ACLU says the court on March 4, 2026, found CAIR likely to succeed on its claim that the order sought to coerce third parties into suppressing its speech. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the injunction as preserving CAIR’s ability to continue its civil rights, advocacy and community work while that separate lawsuit proceeded.
Gorski said no other state has a law like Florida's, calling it unconstitutional, and added that while other states have considered or passed laws resembling it in limited respects, none is as sweeping. Florida Phoenix has reported that Texas similarly designated CAIR a domestic terrorist group in 2025, offering one point of comparison even as Gorski maintains Florida's statute stands apart in scope. Gorski also warned that supporters, volunteers and donors could face severe penalties if the law takes effect as scheduled, which is why CAIR-Florida has asked donors using automatic transfers, bank bill pay, mailed checks or payment apps to pause or cancel those payments before Nov. 5.
