Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist detained by immigration officials, filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday accusing several officials in President Donald Trump’s administration and pro-Israel groups of conspiring to suppress his constitutional rights.
The suit filed in Manhattan federal court names several Trump administration officials as defendants, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It also names the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank; Canary Mission, a website that says it “documents people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews;” and Betar, an extreme pro-Israel group that’s been investigated by New York state Attorney General Letitia James.
Representatives of the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission, and Betar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson didn’t directly respond to the lawsuit, but claimed in a statement that Khalil obtained his student visa by “fraud and misrepresentation.” Khalil and his legal team have previously denied that allegation.
“As we have always maintained, the Executive Branch has the lawful authority to take actions that will protect the public and to ensure the integrity of our immigration system,” Jackson said. “Those who lie to the government to obtain entry into the United States will face justice.”
The lawsuit invokes a centuries-old statute designed to combat the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. The law prevents two or more people from conspiring to deprive someone of certain constitutional rights, including equal protection under the law.
Khalil is seeking damages for the alleged conspiracy, and an injunction preventing the defendants from further relying on what the suit calls “unconstitutional and pretextual grounds for detention and removal.”
“This case is about far more than what was done to me,” Khalil said at a press conference in Foley Square on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s about a coordinated ongoing campaign to punish, silence, and intimidate anyone who dares to speak out for Palestinian liberation. It’s about exposing the network of organizations, political actors, and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity of Palestine and to make an example of those who refuse to stay silent.”
The new lawsuit is the second federal lawsuit filed by Khalil. The first, filed last year, contests his detention and the Trump administration's efforts to deport him. A federal appeals court ruled against Khalil in that case, opening the door for his deportation and reversing a lower court order in his favor. Khalil has said he plans to appeal that lawsuit to the Supreme Court after an appeals court declined to review the case.
Khalil was detained for more than 100 days in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he was arrested in the lobby of his Columbia-owned apartment building last March.
Federal officials said they were seeking to deport Khalil under a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act because he allegedly posed a threat to the United States’ foreign policy goals, including efforts to combat antisemitism. He has not been charged with a crime. While Khalil was in detention, his wife gave birth to their son.
“This lawsuit is about accountability and justice,” Khalil also said at Tuesday’s press conference. “No matter where I am, I will not stop. I will not stop fighting until everyone who willingly contributed to my missing the birth of my son and to taking 104 days of my life from me answers for what they’ve done.”
