Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate into the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) this week.
In a letter to the Director of Texas DPS Colonel Martin, Gov. Abbott warned that “the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world.’” The letter employs the DPS to find any activity that enforces any law other than federal and state law.
Gov. Abbott named the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as terrorist organizations in a recent proclamation. He called for investigations into Sharia councils across the state of Texas shortly after.
Texas DPS Special Forces will join the FBI Terrorism Joint Task Force to help with the investigation. The agencies will work together with the Texas Attorney General's Office in gathering intelligence on these organizations.
Concerns around these organizations have risen amongst other Texas legislators, including Senator Ted Cruz.
“I'm committed to designating the Muslim Brotherhood at a federal level as well, and we have many paths to do so,” Cruz said in a recent X post, commending the investigation. “I've introduced legislation that implements a new and modernized strategy, and I am pushing my colleagues to pass it expeditiously. The same thing could also be done by President Trump as an Executive Order.”
Cruz introduced a bill called the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025 earlier this year. The bill would require President Trump to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a “foreign terrorist organization” on a nationwide level.
The investigation seeks to "disrupt any group seeking to unlawfully establish or promote a breeding ground for radicalism in this State.”
