Host Selene Rodriguez sits down with Joshua Treviño and Ammon Blair of the Texas Public Policy Foundation to break down everything you need to know about Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designations and why the work isn’t finished yet.
The conversation covers how TPPF’s research beginning in 2022 helped lay the groundwork for Texas’s own FTO designation framework, the critical difference between federal and state-level designations, and what Governor Abbott’s recent designation of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood actually means legally. They also dig into the ongoing lawsuit challenging that designation, the web of illicit financing these organizations rely on, and a frank assessment of what tools local law enforcement still lacks to act on these designations in the field.
Looking ahead to the 90th Texas legislative session, Ammon Blair and Joshua Treviño make the case for codifying material support law at the state level, giving Texas real teeth to match its bold designations.
Topics covered:
Federal vs. state FTO designation: what’s the difference?
Texas’s FTO statute and how it’s broader than the federal standard
Governor Abbott’s designation of CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood and the legal challenge
Following the money: NGO funding, illicit finance, and survivable networks
The law enforcement gap and what the 90th session needs to fix
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