Texas reps launch new Sharia Caucus

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Texans continue to lead anti-Sharia law initiatives, including launching a new caucus in the U.S. House and filing legislation to remove the tax-exempt status of organizations that fund terrorism.

U.S. Reps. Chip Roy and Keith Self, both Texas Republicans, on Thursday launched a new Sharia-Free America Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. They said doing so was necessary to “counter the alarming rise of Sharia Law in the United States. Sharia is a dominating force that is not compatible with the U.S. Constitution.”

“America is facing a threat that directly attacks our Constitution and our Western values: the spread of Sharia law,” Roy, who is running for attorney general in Texas, said. “From Texas to every state in this constitutional republic, instances of Sharia adherents masquerading as ‘refugees’ – and in many cases, sleeper cells connected to terrorist organizations – are threatening the American way of life.”

He also argues that “those who succumb to this political ideology seek to replace our legal system and Constitution,” saying that under Sharia law, “there is no freedom of speech, religion, or women’s rights.”

Self said, “The American way of life is under siege by radicals from a culture waging war against our Constitution and Western values. We’ve seen what happens when nations allow this infiltration: countries like France and England are on the verge of losing their identity and sovereignty. The same forces are at play here in America today, and if we don’t stop them, they will conquer our country too.”

This is the latest Sharia-related action Roy and Self have taken after filing the Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act in October. The two-page bill would direct the U.S, attorney general and secretaries of the departments of Homeland Security and State to prevent foreign nationals who observe Sharia from entering the U.S. or from remaining in the country.

Any foreign national who provides false statements about their adherence to Sharia Law would have their immigration benefits, visa or admittance to the country revoked and be considered inadmissible or deportable and removed from the U.S., according to the bill language, The Center Square reported.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also refiled a bill he’s filed multiple times over the past 10 years to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 to ban all Muslim Brotherhood members from the U.S., The Center Square reported.

Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott issued three directives targeting Islamic groups, first designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on Islamic American Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations. CAIR and the Muslim Legal Fund of America sued Abbott, arguing his directives are unconstitutional and blamed Israel for his actions, The Center Square reported. CAIR also maintains it is not a terrorist organization and doesn’t fund terrorism.

Abbott also directed Texas Department of Public Safety to launch criminal investigations into the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR and directed law enforcement officers to investigate an Islamic Tribunal operating in north Texas that claims to make judicial rulings. The tribunal operates in Self’s district.

One week after Abbott’s FTO designation, President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating the Muslim Brotherhood as an FTO.

Earlier this month, Abbott requested the Treasury Department to investigate CAIR for its alleged terrorist ties and suspend its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit status, The Center Square reported. He cited a federal court ruling, stating, “there is ‘ample evidence to establish’ that CAIR is associated ‘with Hamas,” in the Holy Land Foundation case, one of the largest terrorism financing cases in U.S. history.

Federal law prohibits FTOs from receiving tax-exempt status; domestic organizations created by known FTOs should not have tax-exempt status, Abbott argues.

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced legislation to allow the Treasury Department to terminate the tax-exempt status of groups that provide material support to terrorism, which he argues includes CAIR. Material support includes finances, services or training, he says.

“I’m introducing legislation to strip CAIR of its tax-exempt status because no organization who bankrolls terrorists should get a tax break, period,” Cornyn said. “CAIR is a radical group of terrorist sympathizers with a long history of undermining American values and trying to unconstitutionally impose Sharia Law on Texas, which is why I stand behind Governor Abbott’s decision to designate it as a foreign terrorist organization.”

He also called on Trump to designate CAIR as an FTO “at the federal level to ensure this breeding ground for anti-American hate is starved of funding and forced to close its doors once and for all.”

Under current U.S. tax code, an entity’s tax-exempt status is suspended if it’s designated as an FTO by the State Department. Cornyn’s bill would extend the current prohibition to organizations designated as FTOs in the last three years. It also establishes procedures for the IRS to notify such organizations, for them to be able to refute the designation, and for designations to be rescinded through administrative and judicial review.