Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration voted Tuesday to designate the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and approximately 90 other groups as domestic terrorist groups.

A 427-page document that accompanied the vote claimed “there is substantial evidence that CAIR is engaging in terrorist activity” and accused the group of having connections to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

The vote comes after Texas and Florida labeled the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations last year, which forbids both organizations and their affiliates from purchasing or acquiring land in the states and allows increased enforcement against the groups.

Florida on Tuesday expanded the designation to include the domestic terrorist group label and also labeled al-Qaeda, the Houthis and the Continuity Irish Republican Army as foreign terrorist organizations.

Florida also now considers Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, two Mexican drug cartels and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as foreign terrorist organizations, according to CBS News.

CAIR has since sued the state over the designation, accusing DeSantis of violating the First Amendment and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

"There is nowhere in that notice any allegation or evidence that CAIR has engaged in any violent or dangerous act in violation of Florida or U.S. law," Hina Shamsi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's national security project, said Tuesday. "That's the first requirement for something as serious as this."

The ACLU is representing CAIR in its lawsuit and Shamsi said attorneys intend to file a motion Thursday on behalf of CAIR-Florida that seeks a preliminary injunction to block the designation.

The designations will take effect Nov. 5, if no court strikes them down first.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.