The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced that it has sent a formal response letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott strongly condemning his recent proclamation targeting the organization as “defamatory” and “has no basis in law or fact.“

Click Here: Read CAIR’s Letter to Governor Abbott

In the letter, CAIR writes to Governor Abbott that his proclamation does not have “the authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions terrorist groups.” 

Earlier today, CAIR National and CAIR-Texas issued an initial public response affirming that their civil rights work in Texas will continue undeterred.

The letter further states that “CAIR is an independent American nonprofit organization that operates in full compliance with federal, state, and local laws” and that CAIR “is not – and has never been – a member, chapter, offshoot, or affiliate of any foreign organization.”

The letter documents CAIR’s thirty-year record of condemning and advocating against: “anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism and antisemitism, as well as all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and terrorism.”

Addressing the Governor directly, CAIR writes that his office “has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government,” adding that “We have successfully sued you three different times for shredding the First Amendment for the benefit of the Israeli government, and we are ready to do so again if you attempt to turn this publicity stunt into actual policy.”

CAIR concludes its letter by reaffirming that it “plans to continue opposing all forms of bigotry, speaking out against injustice here and abroad, and defending the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech, God willing.”

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

Abbott has also shared dehumanizing content from anti-Muslim bigot Amy Mek’s social media account, deleted it, then shared content from another anti-Muslim bigot alleging Islam is a “militant ideology.” Mekelburg is best known for her Islamophobic content but has previously encouraged her readers to follow a white supremacist and antisemite.

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

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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com