Mahmoud Khalil Sues Trump Administration and Groups, Deportation Case Advances

Mahmoud Khalil filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday alleging that senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration worked with the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar to suppress criticism of Israel through doxing, jailing and attempted deportation of pro-Palestinian activists.

The complaint claims the defendants formed a public-private partnership that may violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law restricting government coordination with vigilante groups, according to Khalil’s lawyers.

Citizen and former Columbia University graduate student, served as a spokesperson for campus activists protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza. Khalil was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in his campus apartment in March 2025 and held for 104 days in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child, CNN reported.

A federal judge in New Jersey later ordered his release.

Khalil’s deportation case has advanced rapidly through immigration courts and could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, CNN reported. Inquiries to the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar received no immediate response on Tuesday.

Khalil previously told The Associated Press that his activism stemmed from opposition to university and tax funding for weapons manufacturers involved in what he called a genocide. “My beliefs are not wanting my tax money or tuition going toward investments in weapons manufacturers for a genocide,” he said. He has denied that his role in pro-Palestinian protests amounts to antisemitism.