For years, Americans have complained about watch lists that subject people to extra scrutiny and harassment—sometimes making air travel impossible—without due process. FBI agents were caught adding people to the no-fly list to pressure them into becoming informants. Just two months ago, the Trump administration accused its predecessor of placing political opponents on TSA watchlists to harass and punish them for opposition to the Biden administration. But now Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, an ally of President Donal Trump, has added two organizations to his state’s list of terrorist organizations—an action taken without any safeguards and which deprives the organizations of the right to buy land in the state.

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‘This Designation…Prohibits Them from Purchasing or Acquiring Land in Texas’

“Governor Greg Abbott today designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations,” the Texas governor’s office announced November 18. “This designation authorizes heightened enforcement against both organizations and their affiliates and prohibits them from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas.”

The ownership restrictions linked to the designations are of recent vintage, adopted by the state legislature and approved by Abbott this year in a series of related bills. The new laws prohibit individuals and organizations based in China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia from purchasing real estate in Texas. The governor can add names of banned countries and organizations to the list.

“It is very simple. Hostile foreign adversaries like China, Russian, Iran, and North Korea, as well as foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, must not be allowed to own land in Texas,” Abbott commented at the time of passage. “They should not be allowed access to our critical infrastructure, and they may not be allowed to exploit our border. Stiff, criminal penalties will be inflicted on those who violate these laws.”

Sentence First, Then the Trial

The problem, as people who have been harassed at airport checkpoints can attest, is that there’s a difference between an accusation and a conviction when it comes to wrongdoing. Anybody can level strong language at people they don’t like, and in our heated times that’s a favorite pastime of politicians. But to punish people based on unsubstantiated accusations is a big violation of due process rights. In fact, Abbott didn’t direct the Texas Department of Public Safety to open criminal investigations into CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood until two days after he designated them as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. Sentence first, followed by the trial.

In the days before implementation of the new law and before its application to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas warned that the restrictive law “violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause by banning individuals from participating in the Texas economy and building a life in our state—based solely on their nationality or political associations.”

That’s not to say that CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are unworthy of scrutiny. CAIR, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., says its “mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.” But it’s been accused of playing a more dangerous role. In 2007, the organization was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the federal “Holy Land” case over funding of the Hamas terrorist group. More recently, the Network Contagion Research Institute and the Intelligent Advocacy Network released a report accusing CAIR of diverting government funds earmarked for assisting refugees to lobbying efforts and funding anti-Israel protestors.

For its part, the transnational Muslim Brotherhood has been linked to the creation of numerous explicitly terrorist organizations, including Hamas. It is designated at the federal level as a foreign terrorist organization. But it’s also a shadowy group whose representatives in the U.S. don’t exactly conduct their business on official letterhead. Proving connections to the Muslim Brotherhood generally requires effort.

In any case, both organizations and their representatives—CAIR in particular, given its open and fully legal status in the U.S.—have been targeted by the state of Texas and denied the right to purchase real estate with no due process and no means of appeal. As mentioned, the investigation into alleged crimes began after the designation as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. If people and the groups through which they work can so easily be stripped of the ability to fully participate in American life if they offend the wrong officials, what kind of omen is that for the future in this divided country?

Bad Precedent for the Future

Just a few years ago, the state of New York was caught leaning on financial firms and insurance companies to deny services to the National Rifle Association (NRA), an organization very much at odds with the state government’s gun policies. Imagine New York officials bypassing pressure on third parties and just designating the NRA as a terrorist organization with limits on its ability to do business in the state. As bad as the political-legal warfare in this country has become, the power to strip political opponents of some of their freedoms with mere proclamations is a dangerous weapon in the hands of politicians who rarely show much in the way of decency or restraint.

We’ve already seen the perils of such power in the repeated misuse of the IRS by presidents from both major parties to investigate and harass their opponents. The Biden administration’s alleged politicization of TSA watchlists to punish opponents is equally chilling. Proving illegal activity is very difficult compared to bureaucratically naming and stripping rights from ideological adversaries.

Unsurprisingly, CAIR and its allies have sued Texas to stop the designation and its related restrictions. Among other issues, they point out that CAIR is a domestic group with no proven criminal history.

“The Muslim Legal Fund of America is proud to defend the constitutional rights of CAIR-Texas and the right of all Texans to engage in free speech and uphold civil rights without facing lawless and defamatory attacks by Greg Abbott,” Charlie Swift of the Muslim Legal Fund of America announced November 20. “Mr. Abbott’s unconstitutional proclamation undermines the very foundational notions of due process that our system depends upon and it must not stand. For the sake of our nation’s basic freedoms, Greg Abbott’s latest attack on the American people must be defeated.”

At the same time, CAIR-Texas denounced Abbott as an “Israel First” politician. But you don’t have to be sympathetic to CAIR or its positions to hope the organization wins this case. You just have to think government officials should be required to prove accusations before punishing people.

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