Mahmoud Khalil sues Trump officials over ‘collusion’ with anti-Palestinian groups | Mahmoud Khalil
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who attended protests at Columbia University and was detained by Ice earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit demanding the Trump administration release communications with anti-Palestinian groups that he says contributed to his March arrest and efforts to detain him.
The groups, some of which boasted of sharing files on Palestinian activists with the administration, have claimed responsibility for Khalil’s arrest and say there is evidence that the Trump administration “acted on the basis of information and misinformation provided by these groups to pressure” Khalil and other pro-Palestinian activists, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is part of the legal team representing Khalil.
“For months, shady organizations and individuals waged a campaign of smear and harassment designed to intimidate and silence me,” Khalil said in a statement to the Center for Constitutional Rights.
“The public deserves full accountability for every bad actor who made this possible, including those at Columbia who fabricated and amplified these smears and opened the door to state retaliation against Palestinian speech.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights said that a few weeks before Khalil’s arrest, Betar USA, a far-right, pro-Israel group, had placed him on a “deportation list” and said ICE was aware of X’s “home address and whereabouts.” Betar reportedly said he shared that information with officials within the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Later, in the days before Khalil’s arrest, the group Documenting Jewish Hate on Campus called for Khalil’s deportation in a post on X, as did Shai Davidai, a Columbia professor and member of the group’s advisory board.
“Mr. Khalil and the public at large have the right to know the depth of collusion between the federal government and shadowy groups targeting people who speak out against genocide,” said Adina Marx-Arpadi, an attorney and justice expert at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Khalil was released in June from an ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana, where he had been detained for more than three months for his activism against Israel’s war on Gaza. The Columbia University student was detained in the lobby of the Columbia building in early March.
His arrest was the first in a series of arrests of international student activists, and his release was part of many defeats for the administration, which had vowed to deport pro-Palestinian international students en masse. Three other students detained for similar reasons: Rümeysa Öztürk, Badar Khan Suri and Muhsin Mehdavi – had previously been released while their immigration cases were pending.
As part of the lawsuit, Khalil hopes to uncover records of communications between ICE, the justice department, the state department and the homeland security department, as well as the groups Canary Mission, Betar, Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus, Columbia Alumni for Israel, Middle East Forum, Shirion Collective, Capital Research Center and Camera.
He is also seeking any communication between organizations and individuals who reportedly targeted his deportation or those of other pro-Palestinian students, collected his personal information, and attempted to facilitate his deportation.
Earlier this year, Khalil filed a $20 million damages claim against the administration, alleging wrongful imprisonment, malicious prosecution and being slandered as an anti-Semite because the government tried to deport him for his prominent role in campus protests.
The July filing, which heralded a lawsuit filed under the federal Torts Act, names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department.
