Ron DeSantis signs Florida law allowing designation of 'domestic terrorist organizations'
· Toronto Sun
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law on Monday that would allow him and other state officials the power to label certain groups as terrorist organizations and expel university students who support such groups.
Visit sportbet.reviews for more information.
The law also bans Florida courts from enforcing any provision of a religious or foreign law, specifically Sharia law, which is a religious framework that guides many Muslims’ moral and spiritual conduct.
“We’ve been very strong in Florida from the beginning on all of this nonsense and doing whatever we can to keep people of this state safe,” DeSantis said at a news conference on the University of South Florida campus.
The law allows a top official at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to designate a group as a domestic or foreign terrorist organization with the governor and three other members of the Florida cabinet approving or rejecting the designation. Besides the governor, the cabinet is made up of the state attorney general, the chief financial officer and the agriculture commissioner, all of whom are elected separately.
Muslim Brotherhood singled out
During the news conference, DeSantis singled out the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as organizations the legislation is designed to target.
The governor designated both groups as foreign terrorist organizations in an executive order signed last December. A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the enforcement of DeSantis’ executive order after CAIR filed a legal challenge .
The law, which takes effect July 1, also allows the state to expel students at state universities who “promote support for designated terrorist organizations.”
Expelled students attending universities on visas would be reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
New rules targeting private schools
The law would also prohibit private schools from receiving state vouchers for affiliating with a designated foreign or domestic terrorist organization.
“We have got to stop as a country importing people that reject the values of this country and that’s just been going on for a long time,” DeSantis said.
Republican Rep. Hillary Cassel, who sponsored the bill, said the legislation “creates a framework to ensure that Florida taxpayer dollars are not used to support institutions with ties to bona fide terrorist organizations — protecting our public schools, colleges and communities from the misuse of public funds.”
The law has been criticized by CAIR, who said the legislation unfairly targets Muslims.
“There’s a clear message, at least from these lawmakers, that Florida Muslims are not welcome in Florida: That’s their message,” Omar Saleh, a CAIR-Florida attorney, told CBS News .
— with files from The Associated Press