Florida Domestic Terrorist Designation Act

Summary

On April 6, 2026, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 1205 and Senate Bill 1471, known as the Domestic Terrorist Designation Act, authorizing Florida officials to designate certain entities as “domestic terrorist organizations.” The measure, passed by the Florida Legislature in early March 2026, created a process for state designation and allowed restrictions on financial interactions, including gifts, contracts, and other support involving designated groups.

The legislation followed earlier developments beginning on December 9, 2025, when state officials raised the possibility of designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), including its Florida chapter, as a terrorist organization. That discussion occurred amid disputes involving campus activity and pro-Palestinian advocacy. CAIR denied the allegations and stated that it is a civil rights organization. The law includes provisions affecting colleges and universities: students who promote a designated organization may be expelled, barred from receiving public college funds including fee waivers and certain scholarships, and public institutions may not spend state or federal funds to support programs or activities promoting a designated group. These requirements apply to Florida College System institutions and state universities, and include reporting obligations for students attending on visas.

On December 15, 2025, CAIR-Foundation, the nonprofit legal and advocacy arm of CAIR, and CAIR-Florida filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. DeSantis challenging the executive order that had designated the group as a terrorist organization. On January 28 and January 30, 2026, proposals emerged that would treat certain groups as terrorist organizations for purposes of restricting gifts and other financial relationships and included provisions related to campus speech. During the legislative session, lawmakers introduced and advanced House Bill 1205 and Senate Bill 1471 to establish a formal state designation process.

On March 4, 2026, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the executive order that designated CAIR as a terrorist organization. The injunction prevented enforcement of that specific designation due to constitutional concerns, particularly First Amendment protections, but did not affect the pending legislation.

After the law was signed, the ACLU of Florida stated that the legislation “attempts to create a system where the government can unilaterally label individuals and organizations as ‘domestic terrorists’ and trigger sweeping consequences without meaningful standards, transparency, or constitutional guardrails.” The organization warned that the law “is dangerous to democracy because it lets officials attach a stigmatizing label and bypass constitutional protections.” CAIR-Florida’s executive director, Hiba Rahim, said the law “can be used to chill free speech” and called it “an anti-free speech law, an anti-due process law, an anti-First Amendment law.” She added that “these new laws open the doors for the government to label groups, advocacy groups, faith groups, student groups, as terrorists based on the decision of just five people without proper evidence.”