DeSantis Signs Law Giving Florida Power to Designate Terrorist Groups

Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1471 into law Monday at the University of South Florida's Tampa campus, granting Florida officials sweeping authority to designate terrorist organizations. The measure passed the Republican-controlled legislature on strict party lines: 80-25 in the House in early March and 25-11 in the Senate the week before. The law empowers Florida's chief of the Department of Law Enforcement to designate domestic and foreign terrorist groups with approval from the governor and Cabinet if they engage in terrorist activity and pose an ongoing threat to the state. The legislation effectively codifies DeSantis's December executive order that declared the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as terrorist organizations—a move blocked last month by a federal judge who ruled it unconstitutional. The new law includes penalties supporters say deter material support for designated groups: providing money, guns, or military training becomes a felony, as does joining such organizations with intent to commit violence. During the signing ceremony, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins said the state would "designate, defund and dissolve people who don't stand for our values." The law extends beyond criminal penalties to impact Florida's schools and universities. It bans public school vouchers—Florida's largest school choice program in the nation—for private schools affiliated with designated terrorist organizations. State universities are prohibited from using public or federal funds to promote or support programs advocating for state-designated terror groups, and senators added provisions allowing expulsion of students who support those organizations. A companion bill made sensitive information about designations exempt from public disclosure, raising concerns from Democrats that groups cannot effectively challenge their designation without access to evidence. DeSantis indicated the law targets organizations beyond those previously named. During the signing ceremony, he mentioned Antifa, described as a violent left-wing anarchist movement, and Tren de Aragua, a transnational Venezuelan gang, as potential targets for state designation. The law also prohibits Florida courts from imposing stipulations of foreign or religious law, with specific focus on Sharia law, addressing longstanding concerns raised by Republican lawmakers about the application of Islamic jurisprudence in state courts.