Following two recent terrorist attacks on American soil — one killing a young couple outside the Jewish Museum in D.C., and another firebombing elderly Jews in Colorado — several high-profile politicians have called for the Council on American Islamic Relations to be designated as a terrorist organization.
Why is this? CAIR presents itself as a civil rights organization, but it has a longstanding association with Hamas, for which “ample evidence” was cited in a court ruling unsealed in 2010. CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case, the largest foreign terror financing case in U.S. history.
This may not be enough on its own for the terrorism designation that those politicians called for, but it is enough that the government should not be conferring special privileges, influence and legitimacy upon CAIR’s most powerful state affiliate, CAIR-California.
Since 2015, CAIR-California has enjoyed a special designation that allows non-lawyers on CAIR’s staff to represent clients in immigration proceedings. This accreditation also qualifies CAIR-California to receive certain government funding. This status is a privilege, not a right. According to federal regulations, Executive Office of Immigration Review accreditation is reserved for organizations that are acting in the public interest and maintain ethical and financial accountability. CAIR-California has failed to meet these standards.
The Department of Justice should use its lawful authority to revoke CAIR-California’s accreditation with the Executive Office of Immigration Review.
CAIR leaders’ open support for terrorist violence — which caused the Biden White House to shun the group after the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks against Israeli civilians — is clearly not in the public interest. In the time since, its extremist rhetoric has been adopted by swaths of activists across America. CAIR’s publications and manuals mimic the incendiary language of its leaders.
National Executive Director Nihad Awad expressed happiness after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. CAIR-California CEO Hussam Ayloush stated that “Israel should be attacked” and that “Israel has no right to defend itself.” CAIR-California board officer Zahra Billoo praised Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a “martyr” and described Oct. 7 as “decolonization.”
Immigration law requires providers to assess terrorism-related grounds of inadmissibility. Applicants for asylum, legal permanent residency, and many other forms of immigration relief must attest to their rejection of terrorism and their intent not to further it in the United States. How can CAIR-California be trusted to assess the national security risks of clients when it is promoting the very ideology it is tasked with weeding out?
The federal government is effectively letting the fox guard the henhouse.
Aside from these disturbing statements of support for terrorism, CAIR-California’s handling of government money should disqualify it from Department of Justice recognition, at least until all funds are publicly accounted for.
A recent investigation by the Intelligent Advocacy Network showed that CAIR-California was entrusted with more than $5 million in federal funds intended to be distributed through sub-grants. Public records offer no public accounting for how that money was spent. In one glaring example, CAIR appears to have sub-granted at least $3.6 million of that $5 million to itself.
California’s government transparency site, Open Fiscal, shows that CAIR-California has received more than $10 million in public funding, including $7 million routed from the federal Office of Refugee and Resettlement for immigration assistance and $2.7 million to “fight hate.” CAIR-California’s IRS Form 990 filings fail to disclose these government grants, an apparent violation of tax reporting rules.
CAIR-California also entered into that $7 million public contract with the California Department of Social Services under the name “CAIR of Greater Los Angeles,” which somehow operates under CAIR-California’s tax identification number but does not appear to be a separate legal nonprofit.
This is not a partisan issue. CAIR-California’s refusal to open up its financial books and its support for extremism undermine the very immigrant communities the group claims to serve. Public funds should not be used to enrich a single organization or promote violent ideologies.
Department of Justice recognition is meant to ensure that immigration providers deliver competent, ethical legal services and serve as responsible stewards of public funding. CAIR-California has failed to meet these baseline requirements.
The continued flow of federal, state, and city funding to CAIR-California hinges on its accreditation from the Executive Office of Immigration Review. Thus, revocation of that accreditation is not merely symbolic.
The Department of Justice should act to uphold the integrity of its own programs by immediately withdrawing CAIR-California’s accreditation. The federal government, California, and the City and County of Los Angeles must end this partnership and work to restore public trust.
Julie Marzouk is the Founder and Principal of Evolve Advocacy Consulting.