(The Center Square) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he plans to formally designate more than 90 organizations as foreign terrorist organizations in a sweeping antiterrorism measure.
After signing HB 1471 into law, DeSantis says he has greater statutory authority to identify, designate, and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida.
The groups he plans to designate as FTOs include the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood, Antifa and more than 90 groups, including Mexican cartels. His actions follow Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who began making FTO designations four years ago.
HB 1471 follows an executive order DeSantis issued last December directing state agencies “to eliminate the influence of radical terrorist ideologies and organizations operating in Florida.” He previously designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as FTOs via executive order and directed state agencies to deny taxpayer funding, contracts, employment, and other public support associated with the groups.
DeSantis’ announcement came three months after a federal judge struck down his executive order and after Abbott designated CAIR as an FTO. CAIR sued DeSantis and Abbott.
In the Florida case, the parties didn’t engage in discovery, no hearings were held and CAIR filed a motion for preliminary injunction, which the judge granted. The judge said CAIR had shown a substantial likelihood of succeeding in its case based on the merits, The Center Square reported.
In the Texas case, the parties are involved in discovery and in May, a federal judge handed Abbott a win, The Center Square reported.
HB 1471 creates “a permanent statutory framework to combat terrorism while protecting the constitutional rights of Floridians,” DeSantis said in a statement. It establishes a formal terrorist designation process through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; prevents taxpayer-funded institutions from supporting or promoting FTOs; ensures foreign or religious legal codes cannot override the U.S. or Florida constitutions; creates state enforcement mechanisms and criminal penalties for providing material support to FTOs and authorizes the governor and his cabinet to issue FTO designations.
DeSantis, like Abbott, has also taken action to eliminate foreign influence within public institutions. This includes prohibiting colleges and universities from entering into agreements with institutions affiliated with foreign countries of concern, restricting the use of taxpayer funds for programs benefiting foreign adversaries, and taking action to prevent extremist organizations from operating on public campuses.
DeSantis says he intends to formally designate CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, Antifa, the Sinaloa, Gulf and del Noreste cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, among others, as FTOs.
He is also asking for confirmation of his FTO designations from his cabinet. Once they provide confirmation, he said his FTO designations “will carry the full force of state law.”
“State and local governments will be prohibited from providing taxpayer funding, contracts, or other public support” to FTOs, he said. Public colleges, universities, school districts, and other publicly funded institutions will also be prohibited from using public resources to support or promote FTOs, he added.
FTOs may also be subject to dissolution and anyone who knowingly provides material support or resources to the groups he designates as FTOs will face criminal penalties, he said.
Several of the organizations on the list he mentioned have already been designated as FTOs by the Trump administration, including TdA, Mexican cartels and others.
Abbott designated TdA members as FTOs in Texas two years ago. He designated Mexican cartels as FTOs four years ago, The Center Square reported.
