TAMPA, Fla. — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) responded Tuesday afternoon to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signing the Systems of Law and Terrorist Organizations bill into law on April 6.
The bill signing comes a few months after DeSantis designated CAIR as a "terrorist organization" through an executive order on Dec. 8.
According to Capital reporter Forrest Saunders, House Bill 1471 will allow Florida to formally designate domestic and foreign terrorist organizations, increase penalties for people who support, train with, or work under those groups, and block public funding and contracts tied to them.
In the school section, Saunders said the bill also bars certain ties to groups, including foreign terrorist organizations, domestic terrorist organizations, criminal gangs, terrorist organizations and transnational crime organizations.
Supporters say the bill is about public safety and protecting constitutional rights, while critics argue it is too broad and could chill speech and activism, according to Saunders.
DeSantis signed the bill at a press conference at the University of South Florida Gibbons Alumni Center at 11 a.m. on April 6.
Akeel & Valentine, CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF), the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in December. The lawsuit claims the executive order is unlawful and unconstitutional, specifically that DeSantis has usurped the exclusive authority of the federal government to identify and designate terrorist organizations.
A federal judge temporarily blocked DeSantis's executive order on March 5.
"Part of what the legislature did in this bill was provide a statutory structure for the actions that we took earlier when we took those actions last year," said DeSantis on Monday. "It provided a process where we could identify groups that are foreign terrorist organizations."
Tampa Bay 28 streamed the press conference live on the website and Facebook.
WATCH: DeSantis signs terrorism bill at press conference in Tampa
This is a developing story. Tampa Bay 28 will provide more details as they become available.
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