Mahmoud Khalil Sues Trump Officials, Seeks Records of Alleged Collusion with Anti‑Palestinian Groups

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after protests at Columbia University, has filed a lawsuit seeking records of communications between the Trump administration and several anti‑Palestinian organizations. Khalil’s legal team says those groups compiled and shared dossiers, urged deportation, and may have influenced federal enforcement actions that led to his March arrest and prolonged detention.

Lawsuit aims to uncover communications

The complaint asks federal agencies to produce records of communications between ICE, the Department of Justice, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security and groups including Canary Mission, Betar USA, Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus, Columbia Alumni for Israel, the Middle East Forum, Shirion Collective, Capital Research Center and CAMERA. Khalil is also seeking any exchanges with individuals alleged to have targeted, doxxed or advocated for the deportation of him or other pro‑Palestinian students.

Allegations and public claims

Legal filings and statements from Khalil’s team say several organizations publicly boasted about compiling dossiers on Palestine activists and asserted that they shared information with officials. The Center for Constitutional Rights, part of Khalil’s legal team, contends there is evidence the administration "acted on information and misinformation — provided by these groups — in cracking down" on pro‑Palestine demonstrators.

"For months, shady organizations and individuals carried out a smear and harassment campaign designed to intimidate and silence me," Khalil said. "The public deserves full accountability for every bad actor who helped make that possible, including those at Columbia who fabricated and amplified these smears and opened the door for state retaliation against Palestinian speech."

The filings note that, weeks before Khalil’s arrest, Betar USA — described in the complaint as a far‑right, pro‑Israel group — listed him on a so‑called "deport list" and posted on X that ICE was "aware of his home address and whereabouts." Betar reportedly told supporters it shared that information with Trump administration officials, including Senator Marco Rubio. In the days immediately before the arrest, Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus posted calls for Khalil’s deportation, and similar comments were made by Shai Davidai, a Columbia professor and advisory board member of that group.

"Mr. Khalil and the public at large have the right to know about the depth of the collusion between the federal government and the shadowy groups targeting people who speak out against a genocide," said Adina Marx‑Arpadi, an attorney and justice fellow with the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Detention, release and related cases

Khalil was detained in early March in the lobby of his Columbia residence and held for more than three months at an ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana, before his release in June. His arrest was among the first in a series of detentions of international student activists; three other students held on similar grounds — Rümeysa Öztürk, Badar Khan Suri and Mohsen Mahdawi — were subsequently released while their immigration cases proceeded.

Earlier this year Khalil filed a separate claim seeking $20 million in damages, alleging false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and defamatory accusations of antisemitism connected to efforts to deport him. That July filing, presented as a precursor to a Federal Tort Claims Act suit, names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department as defendants.

Why this case matters

The lawsuit seeks transparency about whether federal agencies coordinated with outside groups that monitor, publicize and sometimes encourage enforcement against campus activists. The outcome could clarify the boundaries between private advocacy, public reporting and government enforcement actions — and affect how student speech and protest are protected or targeted in the future.