A new House caucus focused on opposing Sharia law in the United States has expanded to 36 members from 18 states, according to Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), one of its co-founders.
The Sharia Free America Caucus was founded by Self and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) following a conversation with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) at the White House Christmas Party, according to Self.
He told JNS that the caucus has three primary goals. “We think our missions and our goals are to, one, alert our colleagues in Congress to the dangers of the explosion of Sharia across America today,” Self said.
“Next, get the American people to understand the danger and help them not be intimidated by the accommodation request and then the intimidation,” he added.
The caucus’s third objective, he said, is legislative action, Self told JNS, noting that “we have seven bills already that have been introduced on the floor of the House.”
Those bills include HR 5512, the No Sharia Act, which would restrict American courts from enforcing judgments or arbitration decisions based on Islamic law or other foreign legal systems that violate constitutional rights. Tuberville is sponsoring the companion bill, S 3008, in the Senate.
Another measure, HR 5722, the Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act, would bar foreign nationals who adhere to Sharia law from entering or remaining in the United States, with a Senate companion bill, S 3009, also introduced by Tuberville.
Additional legislation includes HR 6225, the Pausing All Admissions Until Security Ensured (PAUSE) Act, which would halt all immigration until reforms are implemented, and HR 5890, the No-Tax Exemptions for Terror Act, which would remove tax-exempt status from organizations with alleged ties to terrorist groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Self also introduced HR 6230, the Tehran Incitement to Violence Act, which would designate as terrorists Iranian clerics who issued Sharia-based fatwas calling for the killing of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
That bill has advanced further than the others. “It passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously,” Self said, noting two abstentions.
The legislative package also includes HR 4387, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025, HR 4097, which would designate CAIR as a terrorist organization, and HR 5890, which would eliminate the tax-exempt status for groups like CAIR “with close ties to terrorist organizations.”
Self said the caucus was formed in response to what he described as increasing attempts to introduce Sharia-based decisions into American civic life. “We have one set of laws in the United States, known as the U.S. Constitution, flowing down through the states to the local entities,” he said. “And those are the laws that govern us, not Sharia.”
On the state level, HB 1471 in Florida, filed by Rep. Hillary Cassel, a Republican, is scheduled for a Feb. 10 hearing. It declares that while religious freedom is protected, it does not extend to practices that violate public safety or individual rights, and singles out Sharia law as a “religious law” that may not be applied if it infringes on constitutional guarantees.
The legislation findings state that certain practices “inherent to Sharia law,” including child marriage, corporal punishment, discrimination against women and violence against non-Muslims, violate fundamental rights and public order, and cannot be enforced by Florida courts. Companion bill S 1632 was filed on Jan. 9 by the Senate Judiciary Committee and Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican.
In Arizona, SB 1573, introduced on Feb. 3 by Sen. Wendy Rogers, a Republican, is scheduled for a Feb. 11 hearing. The bill states that “religious sectarian law cannot be used by U.S. courts in decisions and court rulings.
HJR 10140 in Oklahoma, introduced on Feb. 2 by Reps. Gabe Woolley and David Bullard, both Republicans, bars courts from looking “to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia law.”
In Kentucky, HB 539, introduced by Rep. Billy Wesley, a Republican, on Feb. 3, prohibits “the recognition of adjudicative rulings or contractual provisions based in whole or in part upon Sharia or any foreign law,” and New Hampshire’s HR 34, introduced Jan. 28 by Rep. Matt Sabourin, a Republican, prohibits government institutions from “deference to Sharia law.”
Self told JNS that while these bills are not part of the caucus’s movement, he is “delighted” to hear about them. “We’re going to need the states to be involved,” he said. “But even more than that, we’re going to have to have our citizens understand not to be intimidated.”
The caucus is organizing a meeting for later in February in Texas. “This is something that will not wait,” he said. “We’ve got to act now.”
