CAIR’s Civil Rights Report Shows Islamophobia Complaints at All-Time High, Viewpoint Discrimination Key Factor
March 11, 2025- 12:06 pm
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/11/25) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today released its 2025 Civil Rights Report “Unconstitutional Crackdowns,” which reveals that Islamophobia continues to be at an all-time high across the country.
WATCH CAIR’S WASHINGTON, D.C., NEWS CONFERENCE.
CAIR said viewpoint discrimination against those speaking out against genocide and apartheid was a key factor in many cases.
SEE: Israel-Gaza war behind record high US anti-Muslim incidents, advocacy group says – Reuters
SEE ALSO: Anti-Muslim hate hits new high in US: Advocacy group – Al Jazeera
Gaza war fuels rise in Islamophobia in US: Report – Anadolu Agency
CAIR: Israel’s war on Gaza behind record high US anti-Muslim incidents – The New Arab
In 2024, CAIR offices nationwide received a total of 8,658 complaints—the highest number ever recorded since the organization’s first civil rights report in 1996. This marks a 7.4 percent increase from the 8,061 complaints received in 2023, signaling a worsening climate of Islamophobia.
“Vigorous public debate, a hallmark of healthy democracy, was replaced by crackdowns on people expressing politically-disfavored viewpoints in 2024. Speaking out against Israel’s policies of apartheid, occupation and genocide came with a price,” said CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor. “For the first time in our report’s nearly 30-year history, complaints reported to us were often the result of viewpoint discrimination rather than religious identity.”
SEE: 2025 Civil Rights Report: Unconstitutional Crackdowns
CAIR’s research staff identified three key trends in the report:
- A Shift in Targeting: Unlike past years, where American Muslims were often targeted specifically for their faith, 2024 saw a broader pattern in which Muslims, alongside Palestinians, Arabs, Jews, African Americans, and Asian Americans, were targeted for their opposition to genocide and apartheid. This shift underscores the growing tension in American society around issues of global justice and human rights.
- Rising Employment Discrimination: Employment discrimination reached a new high, comprising 15.4% of all complaints reported to CAIR offices. This is the first time that employment discrimination is the highest-reported category across CAIR chapters nationwide. Many of these complaints stemmed from employees, particularly minority groups, being punished or smeared for speaking out against Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its treatment of Palestinians. This trend reflects a troubling disconnect between corporate promises of inclusivity and actual practices in workplaces across the nation.
- Increase in Law Enforcement Encounters: Law enforcement encounters surged by 71.5 percent, with 506 incidents reported in 2024, up from 295 in 2023. This increase coincided with student-led anti-genocide protests, marking a troubling trend of university administrators using law enforcement to target individuals based on their activism and viewpoints.
While the report gives a grim picture, there were some positive developments in the fight for civil rights in 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of CAIR’s arguments against the federal No Fly List. Attorneys representing individuals impacted by President Trump’s 2017 Muslim Ban reached a major agreement for nearly 25,000 affected individuals. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) acted to prohibit the sale of sensitive location data from Muslim app users, protecting their privacy and preventing its misuse for surveillance.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857; CAIR Research and Advocacy Manager Farah Afify, (202) 742-6410, fafify@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com
