Florida designates CAIR a domestic terrorist organisation: Soros-linked funding, Hamas connections and anti-India lobbying draws attention

CAIR has faced scrutiny in the United States for years. In 2007, federal prosecutors named the organisation as an unindicted co-conspirator during the prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Five officials of the foundation were later convicted of providing material support to Hamas.

NewsBharati    07-Oct-2026 16:37:25 PM
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Florida has designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its Florida chapter as domestic terrorist organisations under state law. The move has renewed scrutiny of CAIR's links, funding and political advocacy, including its campaigns in Washington on issues related to India.
 

CAIR 
 
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet approved the designation on September 29 under a law passed earlier this year. CAIR has challenged the decision in federal court, arguing that the action violates constitutional protections. The legal dispute is still ongoing.
 
It is important to note that this is not a US federal designation of CAIR as a terrorist organisation. The decision has been taken under Florida's state law. At the federal level, a separate bill introduced in Congress seeks a formal review of whether CAIR should be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, but that legislation has not become law.
 
Why CAIR has faced scrutiny
 
CAIR has faced scrutiny in the United States for years. In 2007, federal prosecutors named the organisation as an unindicted co-conspirator during the prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Five officials of the foundation were later convicted of providing material support to Hamas.
 
CAIR itself was not prosecuted or convicted in that case. However, evidence presented during the trial led the FBI to significantly restrict its formal contacts with CAIR. A later Justice Department Inspector General report also discussed evidence linking CAIR leaders with Hamas and the Palestine Committee.
 
 
 
 
 
Supporters of efforts to designate CAIR have also pointed to criminal convictions involving some individuals who had links with CAIR chapters or positions. These cases form part of the argument made by supporters of a terrorist designation. However, these individual cases do not by themselves establish that CAIR as an organisation committed a terrorism offence.
 
Nihad Awad's October 7 remarks
 
CAIR's national executive director Nihad Awad also came under criticism following comments he made in November 2023.
 
Speaking at a conference organised by American Muslims for Palestine, Awad said he was "happy" when Palestinians broke through the Gaza border on October 7, 2023. His comments were later cited in the congressional effort seeking a review of CAIR's status.
 
CAIR continues to describe itself as a Muslim civil-rights and advocacy organisation. Its government-affairs department also openly states that it works with Congress, the executive branch and other government agencies on issues affecting American Muslims.
 
The George Soros connection
 
The connection between CAIR chapters and organisations linked to George Soros also requires some context.
 
According to grant information reported by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Open Society Foundations provided more than 366,000 dollars during 2017 to CAIR chapters in New York, Florida, Texas and California. The funding supported activities such as hate-crime reporting, public relations and educational outreach.
 
This establishes a funding relationship between Open Society-linked philanthropy and CAIR chapters.
 
CAIR and Open Society Foundations came under congressional scrutiny
 
The connection received further political attention in 2024.
 
In May that year, the Republican-controlled House Oversight and Accountability Committee asked the US Treasury Department for suspicious-activity reports concerning 20 organisations. The list included both Open Society Foundations and CAIR, along with several other organisations involved in advocacy related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
 
CAIR objected to the investigation and said it was being improperly grouped with organisations such as the Soros and Gates foundations.
 
 
 
 
 
The congressional request confirms that both organisations were part of the same financial investigation in 2024. It does not, however, prove that Soros personally financed CAIR's campaigns concerning India or directed its activities.
 
CAIR's campaigns on India
 
The India angle becomes important because CAIR has actively spoken about Indian domestic and foreign-policy issues in Washington.
 
After the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, CAIR urged Americans to contact members of Congress and pressure India over Kashmir. It also submitted a statement to a US House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on Kashmir in which it criticised the Narendra Modi government.
 
In 2020, CAIR participated in a Washington news conference where organisations called for US sanctions against then Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Citizenship Amendment Act.
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In 2021, CAIR welcomed criticism of India by then Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez over Kashmir, the CAA and the farmers' protests.
 
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2023 state visit to Washington, CAIR called on the Biden administration to cancel plans for a state dinner for Modi. It also asked congressional leaders not to invite him to address a Joint Meeting of Congress. At the same time, CAIR supported the US Commission on International Religious Freedom's recommendation to place India on its list of Countries of Particular Concern.
 
In April 2025, CAIR wrote to then Secretary of State Marco Rubio and called for India to be designated a Country of Particular Concern over the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
 
The organisation has also campaigned on issues concerning Kashmir, the CAA, religious minorities, the BBC documentary on Modi and disputes involving Muslim institutions in India.
 
Open Society-linked foundations funded CAIR chapters. CAIR has conducted lobbying and advocacy in Washington. CAIR has campaigned on Kashmir, the CAA, the Waqf law, Modi and India's religious-freedom record. It has also engaged with Congress and other US policy institutions.
 
Earlier efforts to designate CAIR
 
The effort to designate CAIR as a terrorist organisation did not begin with Florida.
 
At the federal level, Congressman Randy Fine introduced H.R. 4097 in June 2025. The bill would require the US Secretary of State, along with the Attorney General and Treasury Secretary, to review whether CAIR meets the legal requirements for designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
 
The bill remains at the committee stage and has not become law.
 
 
 
 
 
Florida had also considered a 2024 resolution that called for government agencies and law-enforcement bodies to suspend contact with CAIR. Arizona considered another measure in 2026 urging the US President and Congress to designate CAIR.
 
The United Arab Emirates had already placed CAIR on its terrorism list in 2014.
 
Why the Florida decision matters for India
 
The direct legal impact of Florida's decision is limited to the state's own legal framework. But the political impact could be wider.
 
CAIR has developed an established advocacy network in Washington and has regularly engaged with US lawmakers and government agencies. India has increasingly become one of the subjects of this advocacy.
 
Over the years, CAIR has spoken on Kashmir, the Citizenship Amendment Act, religious freedom in India, Prime Minister Modi's diplomatic engagements, the Waqf (Amendment) Act and issues concerning Indian Muslims and other minorities.
 
The Florida decision could therefore lead to greater scrutiny of CAIR's organisational history, funding relationships and political advocacy.
 
The bigger question
 
The more important question now is whether further investigations in the United States will reveal deeper connections between funding organisations, advocacy groups and political campaigns concerning India.
 
There are documented links between Open Society-linked foundations and CAIR chapters. There is also documented evidence of CAIR lobbying in Washington and campaigning on issues such as Kashmir, the CAA, the Waqf law and Prime Minister Modi.
 
What remains unclear is whether these links form a centrally coordinated network extending from foreign-funded organisations in the US to political mobilisation in India.
 
Florida's decision could now bring greater attention to those questions, particularly if US courts, Congress or federal authorities examine CAIR's funding, organisational history and political activities in greater detail.