Local leaders condemn governor’s decision to label CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization

Patricia Lim | KUT News

Several Democratic Houston-area leaders have condemned Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.

The decree prevents CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas and enables "heightened enforcement" against the groups, the governor's office said. The Muslim Brotherhood is a movement advocating for religious law in majority-Muslim countries. CAIR describes itself as America's "largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization."

Dr. Suleman Lalani, a Democratic state representative who was one of the first Muslims elected to the Texas Legislature , accused the governo