GOV. GREG ABBOTT: 'RADICAL ISLAMIC EXTREMISM IS NOT WELCOME IN TEXAS - AND CERTAINLY NOT IN OUR SCHOOLS'

Gov. Greg Abbott demands Cy-Fair ISD cancel Islamic Games event: 'Not welcome in Texas'

 

ByElizabeth Sander and Haajrah Gilani

 

Houston Chronicle 

Jan 21, 2026

 

 

 

^{A screenshot of the Islamic Games website, with “TBD” as the location after it was scheduled to be at Bridgeland High School and Sprague Middle School in Cy-Fair ISD.}

 

Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to Cy-Fair ISD leaders Wednesday demanding that they cancel a sporting event with the Islamic Games of North America scheduled for later this year, citing alleged ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Abbott recently declared a "foreign terrorist organization."

"You cannot invite such dangers through the front doors of our schools," he wrote. "Radical Islamic extremism is not welcome in Texas - and certainly not in our schools."

The move comes after the Dallas-area Grapevine-Colleyville ISD canceled a similar event on Tuesday, saying that they had learned that CAIR New Jersey was a sponsor of a related event at one point, according to news reports.

The Islamic Games describes itself as the "premier Muslim sports and athletic event in North America," with over 8,000 athletes participating in games held across the U.S. and Canada last year. It says its mission is to promote unity and community development and is "open to any individual or team regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion."

Abbott ordered Cy-Fair ISD to "preserve all records and communications concerning this event" and demanded leaders cancel the event within seven days of receiving the letter or face an investigation by the Texas Education Agency and potential legal action by Attorney General Ken Paxton. 

He added that he would direct Paxton to file "injunctions to halt public school districts from hosting events sponsored by designated terror organizations like CAIR."

Cy-Fair ISD leaders did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the event, which is scheduled to take place at Bridgeland High School in October.

In his letter to Cy-Fair ISD leaders, Abbott cites a link to a snapshot of the Islamic Games' website from Nov. 16 - two days before his terrorist organization designation of CAIR  -  using the Wayback Machine, an online archive that collects snapshots of websites. CAIR New Jersey is listed among the slate of event sponsors on the archived page, but it is no longer on the live site.

Still, the Islamic Games rejects the notion that the CAIR New Jersey chapter is sponsoring any 2026 sporting events. In a statement released after Grapevine-Coleyville ISD canceled their event, the Islamic Games said it is open to children of all faiths, and claimed CAIR New Jersey donated complimentary drawstring bags for the athletes in 2023.

"Although CAIR has never been a sponsor of the Islamic Games, we want to make clear that we reject the negative and false attacks on them," the release said.

In a statement, CAIR's national chapter said that the claim CAIR New Jersey sponsored the event is false.

"By placing Muslim children at the center of his campaign of hate, Governor Abbott is crossing every line of basic decency and digging himself a deeper legal hole," CAIR said in a statement. "He is the governor of Texas, not the emperor of Texas, and we look forward to reminding him of that in a court of law. God willing."

The Islamic Games became a recent talking point in online right-wing spaces, amplified by popular figures like anti-Muslim activist Amy Mekelburg, known online as Amy Mek, and Current Revolt publisher Tony Ortiz. Mekelburg posted about the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD event before its cancelation and asked Abbott and Paxton to investigate.