Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil is suing the Trump administration for $20 million, alleging wrongful detention and prosecution over his support for the Palestinian cause.
His lawyers filed the claim on Thursday under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is a required first step before a full lawsuit. The complaint alleges that the president and other officials launched a campaign to “terrorize him and his family” during and after his arrest on March 8. Khalil was subsequently held in ICE detention in Louisiana for over 100 days pending deportation proceedings.
The 30-year-old, a recent Columbia University graduate and U.S. permanent resident, remained in custody until June 20, when a federal judge ordered his release on bail.
Khalil’s claim states he missed his son’s birth and Columbia graduation while detained, suffering malnutrition, sleep deprivation and weight loss. He also feared for his family’s safety after officials publicly accused him of supporting terrorism and antisemitism.
Khalil said he would use any compensation to help other students affected by similar policies, or accept an official apology and policy reversal instead.
According to his attorney, Khalil’s arrest was part of a broader political effort targeting students involved in anti-Israel demonstrations. The filing names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department as defendants.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, called Khalil’s claim “absurd” in an emailed statement to the Associated Press, adding that his “hateful behavior and rhetoric” threatened Jewish students. The State Department stated that all measures taken were fully supported by legal authority.
Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who was born in Syria, became a legal permanent resident of the United States after completing his master’s degree at Columbia in 2024. Federal agents arrested him in March after he spent months leading and serving as a spokesman for Columbia’s unsanctioned anti-Israel Apartheid Divest coalition.
The government argued that Khalil’s removal from the country was a “compelling foreign-policy interest” and claimed he had committed immigration fraud by failing to disclose previous employment with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
