As AMAC has previously reported, Texas Republicans have placed a primary ballot proposition before voters on March 3 asking whether Sharia law and any foreign religious legal code should be banned in Texas. To support this effort, AMAC and other organizations committed to protecting the Constitution attended a high-level strategy meeting in the Lone Star State last week.
As speakers at the event made clear, March 3 is only the first step in a fight that has implications far beyond Texas. Among those in attendance were Steve Bannon, Lt. Col. Allen West, historian Bill Federer, numerous Texas state representatives, grassroots leaders, and policy experts.
The clear takeaway was that banning sharia law is more than just a call-to-action – it is a line in the sand to defend the U.S. legal system and protect religious liberty for Americans of all faiths.
The broader concern with Sharia law is the steady normalization of parallel legal systems in American communities. If Texas — long regarded as a firewall for constitutional governance — allows even incremental erosion of its legal foundations, participants warned, the precedent would ripple nationwide.
Much of the discussion at the strategy meeting centered on the constitutional conflicts between Sharia-based criminal enforcement and American law. A legal briefing circulated at the meeting laid out how Sharia-based criminal enforcement is unconstitutional in the United States.
The First Amendment protects religious belief and worship — not the enforcement of religious criminal codes involving coercion, unequal justice, or corporal punishment.
The briefing detailed how Sharia-based practices such as punishing apostasy, suppressing dissent, enforcing gender-based discrimination, or imposing corporal punishments would directly violate multiple constitutional provisions. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment; the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection; the First Amendment protects speech and religious freedom. Under the Constitution, only the state may enforce criminal law — and it must do so equally for all.
While opponents of the Texas GOP’s efforts to ban Sharia law have framed it as a theological debate, in reality, it is a sovereignty issue.
Speakers emphasized that protecting the Constitution protects peaceful Muslims as well. Around the world, Sharia-based regimes most often harm Muslim women, dissidents, and minority sects. The Texas initiative targets only the enforcement of religious criminal law — not worship, not belief, and not private religious observance.
Participants also reviewed recent developments in Texas, including the proposed EPIC City development in Collin County and prior legislative efforts aimed at preventing residential enclaves from operating under foreign legal principles. Lawmakers in attendance stressed that vigilance now prevents far more serious conflicts later.
A clear strategic consensus emerged that the effort must expand beyond a single ballot proposition. Public education, legislative reinforcement, and continued grassroots mobilization will be necessary well beyond March 3.
For AMAC members and concerned citizens, the next opportunity to engage is just days away.
A national virtual briefing on the Save Texas initiative will be held on February 17. This event will provide a deeper analysis of the constitutional issues, outline the next legislative steps, and equip participants with tools to mobilize in their communities.
You can register HERE.
Texas has often set the tone for the rest of the country. The leaders gathered last week believe this is one of those moments. If constitutional governance holds in Texas, it strengthens everywhere. If it weakens there, the consequences will not remain confined within state lines.