Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestine activist released from ICE detention last month on a court order, has filed a $20 million claim against the Trump administration.
Khalil, a green-card holder, was held for over 100 days for his alleged role in organizing an anti-Israel protest at Columbia University in 2024.
In the complaint, Khalil alleges false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin called Khalil’s claim “absurd.”
McLaughlin accused Khalil of threatening Jewish students with “hateful behavior and rhetoric.”
Mahmoud Khalil has filed a claim seeking $20 million in damages from the Trump administration, alleging that he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted, and publicly smeared as an anti-Semite as part of a politically motivated effort to silence his activism.
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— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) July 11, 2025
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The filing — a precursor to a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act — names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department.
It comes as the deportation case against Khalil, a 30-year-old recent graduate student at Columbia University, continues to wind its way through the immigration court system.
The goal, Khalil said, is to send a message that he won’t be intimidated into silence.
“They are abusing their power because they think they are untouchable,” Khalil said. “Unless they feel there is some sort of accountability, it will continue to go unchecked.”
Khalil said he plans to share any settlement money with others targeted in Trump’s “failed” effort to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. In lieu of a settlement, he would also accept an official apology and changes to the administration’s deportation policies.
A White House spokesperson deferred comment to the State Department, which said its actions were fully supported by the law.
“We filed for $20 million in damages against the Trump administration because of the unconstitutional and unlawful arrest and all these conditions that I was put under,” Khalil said.
“It’s clear to me, it’s either the $20 million or an official apology,” he added.
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MAHMOUD KHALIL FILES $20 MILLION LAWSUIT OVER ARREST.pic.twitter.com/NdME6h8raw
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 11, 2025
ABC News provided additional details:
Khalil, 30, helped lead and negotiate on behalf of the pro-Palestinian encampments that spread at Columbia during the spring of 2024, amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Khalil, a green card holder married to a U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents in his New York apartment building in March — the first high-profile pro-Palestinian activist to be detained by ICE during the administration of President Donald Trump, who had vowed to “crush” the campus protests, calling them hotbeds of antisemitism.
Khalil was transferred to an ICE facility in Louisiana, while the Trump administration pressed in court for his deportation.
The Trump administration said Khalil was detained for his purported support of Hamas — a claim his legal team has rejected and for which the administration provided no evidence.
In court proceedings earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio — citing a rarely used provision of the law — determined Khalil should be deported because his continued presence in the country would pose a risk to U.S. foreign policy.
An immigration judge in Louisiana initially found Khalil deportable, but a federal judge in New Jersey later issued an order barring the Trump administration from deporting or continuing to detain Khalil on that basis.
Khalil was released from custody on June 20, but the Trump administration is continuing to seek his deportation.
