Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday giving state officials broad new authority to designate organizations as “terrorist organizations” and expel students from state institutions for supporting them.

The law empowers the governor, Cabinet, and the state’s chief of domestic security to designate any organization they determine engages in extremist acts as a terrorist organization. Once designated, a group can be forcibly dissolved and have its state funding frozen. Students found to have “promoted” a designated domestic or foreign terrorist organization face mandatory expulsion.

DeSantis framed the legislation as a tool to combat extremism and bring accountability to the state’s education system.

Critics were swift and pointed. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called the law “draconian” and unconstitutional. PEN America warned the measure “could chill free speech by placing unprecedented pressure on individuals to avoid speaking, organizing, or engaging with certain viewpoints.” PEN America Florida Director William Johnson said the law “opens the door for Florida students to face punishment for constitutionally protected speech.”

The legislation arrives with a recent precedent in mind. Late last year, DeSantis signed an executive order designating CAIR itself as a foreign terrorist organization. CAIR sued, and a judge blocked the order. Texas made a similar designation against CAIR in November, which the group also challenged in court and had dismissed.

The new law fits within a broader pattern of Republican-led efforts at both the state and federal level to crack down on pro-Palestinian groups and left-leaning organizations, which officials have characterized as extremist, antisemitic, or anti-American. Those groups deny the characterizations and argue the campaigns violate constitutional protections for speech and due process.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump’s administration has faced judicial obstacles in its own efforts along similar lines, including attempts to deport protest participants and freeze funding for universities where demonstrations were held.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)