Muslim groups, other leaders demand Abbott rescind CAIR's ‘terrorist’ designation: 'Defamatory'

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, joins 'America's Newsroom' to discuss a federal ruling on Texas' redistricting and his designation of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.

A group of Muslim and interfaith leaders are urging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, to reverse his proclamation designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a "foreign terrorist organization."

Texas’s designation is state-level only. It does not carry the legal force of a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) listing, which only the U.S. State Department can issue. Abbott’s proclamation, therefore, does not trigger federal terrorism penalties or authorities.

The leaders of several Muslim groups held a news conference on Tuesday to denounce the governor’s proclamation, which also labeled CAIR as a "a transnational criminal organization."

The groups called on the governor to retract his labeling of the civil rights group, calling it defamatory, destructive and dangerous, according to Fox 4.

MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP CAIR SUES TEXAS OVER ABBOTT'S ‘TERRORIST’ DESIGNATION

Muslim and interfaith leaders are urging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reverse his proclamation designating CAIR as a terrorist organization. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

This comes after CAIR filed a lawsuit against Texas over the governor's declaration, arguing that it violates both the U.S. Constitution and state law.

CAIR argues the order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections, and that Texas overstepped its authority because terrorism designations fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction.

"The governor is attempting to punish the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization simply because he disagrees with its protected First Amendment rights to criticize a foreign state that is conducting genocide. This is not only contrary to the United States Constitution, but finds no support in any Texas law," Mustaffa Carroll, the executive director for CAIR Dallas Fort Worth, said at the news conference on Tuesday.