Governor Greg Abbott took bold, unapologetic action on November 18, 2025, formally designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under Texas law. The governor made clear he would block those groups from acquiring land in the Lone Star State and pursue enforcement tools to protect Texans from foreign-influenced extremism. This was not theater — it was a direct attempt to use state authority to defend communities against organizations Abbott characterized as hostile to American law and values.
Abbott didn’t stop at a proclamation; he immediately directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to launch criminal investigations and asked local prosecutors to look into entities allegedly operating Sharia tribunals that could be evading the rule of law. The governor’s letters urged law enforcement to focus on any organizations masquerading as courts or attempting to impose religious codes that conflict with the Texas Constitution and state statutes. For Americans tired of bureaucratic inertia in Washington, this was a state standing up to protect its citizens and its legal order.
Congressman Chip Roy echoed what millions of conservative Texans already feel: Abbott’s actions are sane, necessary, and long overdue. On The Will Cain Show Roy warned that the spread of certain organized efforts within the state needs scrutiny and said groups like CAIR have been “right in the center” of those developments as perceived by concerned citizens and officials. When federal leaders won’t act, it’s right for principled state officials and patriotic members of Congress to step up and defend American institutions.
Unsurprisingly, CAIR pushed back immediately and has filed suit, calling the designation unconstitutional and defamatory while insisting the group is a civil rights organization, not a terrorist enterprise. Lawsuits are predictable and part of the process, but legal challenges do not change the underlying fact that Texans deserve transparency and security where there are credible allegations of dangerous foreign influence. The litigation will play out in court, and conservatives should want every fact aired openly and legally.
Critics on the left and in the media rushed to claim Abbott overstepped, noting only the federal government can list foreign terrorist organizations under federal law — a technical point that matters in the realm of federal sanctions and immigration law. Those legal contours are real, but they do not excuse paralysis in state government when local communities report threats to public safety and attempts to set up quasi-legal systems that could override American law. Texans are rightly skeptical of armchair legalism when practical threats to liberty and order are alleged.
For patriots who care about rule of law and common-sense protections, Abbott’s move is exactly the kind of leadership we elected Republicans to provide: stand up for law-abiding citizens, defend our legal system, and refuse to bow to political correctness that excuses foreign influence. The governor cited past connections and troubling court cases in explaining his decision, and while courts will weigh constitutional limits, the state’s duty to protect property rights and public safety is non-negotiable. If federal authorities won’t secure our borders and institutions, states must not sit idle.
Conservative Americans should watch these developments closely and stand behind leaders who prioritize safety, sovereignty, and the Constitution over the comforting platitudes of elites who would rather protect institutions than people. Support your local officials demanding transparency, back investigations that root out lawbreaking, and insist that courts resolve this dispute on the merits — not on social-media moralizing. At the end of the day, defending Texas from radicalism and upholding American law is not extreme; it is the duty of public servants sworn to protect us.
