Attorneys to hold live virtual press conference at 3:30 pm eastern to address lawsuit filing today in federal court.

The Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), the CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF) and Akeel & Valentine, PLC today announced that they have filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to block enforcement of Abbott’s “unconstitutional and defamatory” Nov. 18th proclamation, which falsely declared the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations a “foreign terrorist organization” and threatened various civil penalties against the civil rights organization if it continues to serve the people of Texas.

[NOTE: Attorneys for CAIR-Texas plan to hold the virtual press conference at 3:30 pm eastern today, Nov. 20th, 2025, to discuss the lawsuit. Reporters interested in attending and asking questions can contact CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison at iallison@cair.com for an access link. The public may view the press conference live at https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/] 

SEE: Lawsuit Against Texas Governor Greg Abbott

In a statement, Attorney Charlie Swift of the Muslim Legal Fund of America said:

“The Muslim Legal Fund of America is proud to defend the constitutional rights of CAIR-Texas and the right of all Texans to engage in free speech and uphold civil rights without facing lawless and defamatory attacks by Greg Abbott. Mr. Abbott’s unconstitutional proclamation undermines the very foundational notions of due process that our system depends upon and it must not stand. For the sake of our nation’s basic freedoms, Greg Abbott’s latest attack on the American people must be defeated.”

In a statement, CAIR Litigation Director and General Counsel Lena Masri said:

“CAIR Legal Defense Fund has successfully sued and defeated Texas Governor Greg Abbott the last three times he tried to violate the First Amendment by punishing critics of the Israeli government. The lawsuit we have filed today is our first step towards defeating Governor Abbott again so that our nation protects free speech and due process for all Americans. No civil rights organizations are safe if a governor can baselessly and unilaterally declare any of them terrorist groups, ban them from buying land, and threaten them with closure. We have beaten Greg Abbott’s attacks on the First Amendment before, and God willing, we will do it again now.”

In a statement, CAIR-Texas said:

“CAIR-Texas and the Texas Muslim community are standing up for our constitutional rights by directly confronting Greg Abbott’s lawless attack on our civil rights. We are not and will not be intimidated by smear campaigns launched by Israel First politicians like Mr. Abbott. Mr. Abbott is defaming us and other American Muslims because we are effective advocates for justice here and abroad. We plan to continue exercising our constitutional rights, defending civil rights, and speaking truth to power, whether in defense of free speech, religious freedom and racial equality here in Texas or in defense of human rights abroad.”

CAIR previously sent a letter to Abbott rebutting his false claims about CAIR and detailing the Muslim civil rights organization’s three-decade record of both defending civil rights and condemning all forms of unjust violence, including terrorism. The letter also cites numerous rulings and independent reports debunking efforts to smear CAIR or link it to any foreign entities.

CLICK HERE: LETTER TO GOV. ABBOTT

CAIR noted that this is not the first time Greg Abbott has tried and failed to use state law to smear Muslim nonprofit organizations in the statement.

SEE:DOJ ends investigation into Muslim-centered EPIC City project in North Texas

SEE: Epic Hate in Texas (pgs. 11 and 12)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION DEBUNKING ANTI-CAIR CONSPIRACY THEORIES:

• CAIR national statement that has appeared on ITS website since 2009: “We unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the U.S. Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”
• A CAIR memorandum documenting its 30-year history condemning anti-Semitism and terrorism, including suicide bombings by Hamas, titled “A Principled and Consistent Force Against Antisemitism.” Click here to read.
• CAIR National Board statement from 2023 that reaffirms its condemnation of attacks on civilians on Oct. 7th.
•  Op-ed published by CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad in 2023 that affirms his agreement with CAIR’s stance. Click here to read.
• CAIR statement on its website noting that the organization’s funding comes from the American people: “CAIR’s operational budget is overwhelmingly funded by donations from the American people. While most of those donations come from American Muslims, many of our donations come from the broader American public. CAIR is happy to receive the support of every individual, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or another belief or way of life, who supports the organization’s mission of promoting justice and mutual understanding. In any given year, a small and negligible percentage of donations to CAIR comes from individuals who are not based in the United States. For example: in 2023, less than one percent of our donors were individuals based outside of America, most of them in Canada, and their contributions represented less than one percent of the total raised that year.”

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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com; Charlie Swift, cswift@clcma.org; Arshia Al-Khan, arshia.ali.khan@mlfa.org; Shereef Akeel, akeelvalentine.com