DeSantis signed the measure Monday in Tampa, setting out a framework under which Florida could designate groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations and remove students who support them, according to the Associated Press. The law, which DeSantis signed alongside other Florida leaders’ authority, is aimed at giving state officials additional power to act against groups they characterize as terrorist organizations.
Under the measure, a top official at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would be able to designate a group as a domestic or foreign terrorist organization. The designation would then go to the governor and three other members of the Florida Cabinet—statewide-elected officials who sit on separate ballots for their roles—for approval or rejection.
The law’s enforcement approach extends beyond designations. Once a group is labeled as a terrorist organization, the measure would allow the organization to be dissolved and would bar it from receiving state funding through school districts or other state agencies. DeSantis framed the purpose of the law as protecting the state’s interests, telling reporters at a news conference, “So this will help the state of Florida protect you. It’ll help us protect your tax dollars,” and “It’ll help us protect things that should not be happening in the United States of America, but certainly shouldn’t be happening in the free state of Florida.”
The bill would also affect students in Florida’s public university system. The measure provides that universities would have to report students who are expelled and are attending on visas to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the AP report. DeSantis last December designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhoods as foreign terrorist organizations, the report said.
Free speech advocates criticized the measure on Monday. PEN America said the law contains vague language that could constrain education programs that are deemed to be “promoting” terrorism, and it also argued the law could be used to target student protesters who criticize Florida officials. PEN America’s Florida director, William Johnson, said in response, “The new law ‘could chill education at every level,’” adding, “The implications are fraught.”
The AP report noted that a federal judge last month temporarily blocked the enforcement of DeSantis’ executive order related to labeling Muslim groups as terrorist organizations—setting the stage for a new state law that seeks to formalize the designation and expulsion framework.