{"id":55105,"date":"2025-07-10T21:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T21:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/55105\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T21:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T21:19:12","slug":"columbia-protester-mahmoud-khalil-files-20m-claim-against-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/55105\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim against Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 On a recent afternoon, Mahmoud Khalil<\/a> sat in his Manhattan apartment, cradling his 10-week-old son as he thought back to the pre-dawn hours spent pacing a frigid immigration jail in Louisiana, awaiting news of the child\u2019s birth in New York.<\/p>\n

For a moment, the outspoken Palestinian activist<\/a> found himself uncharacteristically speechless. <\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot describe the pain of that night,\u201d Khalil said finally, gazing down as the baby, Deen, cooed in his arms. \u201cThis is something I will never forgive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, weeks after regaining his freedom, Khalil is seeking restitution. On Thursday, his lawyers filed a claim for $20 million in damages against the Trump administration, alleging Khalil was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his prominent role in campus protests.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pro-Palestinian<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil poses for a portrait during an interview, July 3, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil poses for a portrait during an interview, July 3, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

The filing \u2014 a precursor to a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act \u2014 names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The goal, Khalil said, is to send a message that he won\u2019t be intimidated into silence. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are abusing their power because they think they are untouchable,\u201d Khalil said. \u201cUnless they feel there is some sort of accountability, it will continue to go unchecked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khalil said he plans to share any settlement money with others targeted in Trump\u2019s \u201cfailed\u201d effort to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. In lieu of a settlement, he would also accept an official apology and changes to the administration\u2019s deportation policies.<\/p>\n

A White House spokesperson deferred comment to the State Department, which said its actions were fully supported by the law. <\/p>\n

In an emailed statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, called Khalil\u2019s claim \u201cabsurd,\u201d accusing him of \u201chateful behavior and rhetoric\u201d that threatened Jewish students.<\/p>\n

Harsh conditions and an \u2018absurd\u2019 allegation<\/p>\n

The filing accuses President Donald Trump and other officials of mounting a haphazard and illegal campaign to \u201cterrorize him and his family,\u201d beginning with Khalil\u2019s March 8 arrest.<\/a><\/p>\n

On that night, he said he was returning home from dinner with his wife, Noor Abdalla, when he was \u201ceffectively kidnapped\u201d by plainclothes federal agents, who refused to provide a warrant and appeared surprised to learn he was a legal U.S. permanent resident. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pro-Palestinian<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil poses for a portrait during an interview, July 3, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil poses for a portrait during an interview, July 3, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

He was then whisked overnight to an immigration jail in Jena, Louisiana, a remote location that was \u201cdeliberately concealed\u201d from his family and attorneys, according to the filing. <\/p>\n

Inside, Khalil said he was denied his ulcer medication, forced to sleep under harsh fluorescent lights and fed \u201cnearly inedible\u201d food, causing him to lose 15 pounds (7 kilograms). \u201cI cannot remember a night when I didn\u2019t go to sleep hungry,\u201d Khalil recalled.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Trump administration publicly celebrated the arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it dubbed \u201cpro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Khalil, who has condemned antisemitism before and since his arrest, was not accused of a crime and has not been linked to Hamas or any other terror group. \u201cAt some point, it becomes like reality TV,\u201d Khalil said of the allegations. \u201cIt\u2019s very absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deported for beliefs<\/p>\n

A few weeks into his incarceration, Khalil was awoken by a fellow detainee, who pointed excitedly to his face on a jailhouse TV screen. A new memo<\/a> signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged Khalil hadn\u2019t broken the law, but argued he should be deported for beliefs that could undermine U.S. foreign policy interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy beliefs are not wanting my tax money or tuition going toward investments in weapons manufacturers for a genocide,\u201d Khalil said. \u201cIt\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n

By then, Khalil had become something of a celebrity in the 1,200-person lock-up. When not dealing with his own case, he hosted \u201coffice hours\u201d for fellow immigrant detainees, leaning on his past experience working at a British embassy in Beirut<\/a> to help others organize paperwork and find translators for their cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty good at bureaucracy,\u201d Khalil said.<\/p>\n

At night, they played Russian and Mexican card games, as Khalil listened to \u201cone story after another from people who didn\u2019t understand what\u2019s happening to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was one of the most heartbreaking moments,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople on the inside don\u2019t know if they have any rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lost time<\/p>\n

On June 20, after 104 days in custody, Khalil was ordered released by a federal judge, who found the government\u2019s efforts to remove him on foreign policy grounds were likely unconstitutional. <\/p>\n

He now faces new allegations of misrepresenting personal details on his green card application. In a motion<\/a> filed late Wednesday, attorneys for Khalil described those charges as baseless and retaliatory, urging a judge to dismiss them. <\/p>\n

The weeks since his release, Khalil said, have brought moments of bliss and intense personal anguish. <\/p>\n

Fearing harassment or possible arrest, he leaves the house less frequently, avoiding large crowds or late-night walks. But he lit up as he remembered watching Deen taking his first swim earlier in the week. \u201cIt was not very pleasant for him,\u201d Khalil said, smiling.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pro-Palestinian<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, hold their baby Deen during an interview, July 3, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, hold their baby Deen during an interview, July 3, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying as much as possible to make up for the time with my son and my wife,\u201d he added. \u201cAs well thinking about my future and trying to comprehend this new reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that reality, he said, will be continuing his efforts to advocate against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza<\/a>, which has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry. On the day after his release, he led a march through Manhattan, draped in a Palestinian flag \u2014 and flanked by security. <\/p>\n

As he poured Deen\u2019s milk into a bottle, Khalil considered whether he might\u2019ve done anything differently had he known the personal cost of his activism. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe could\u2019ve communicated better. We could\u2019ve built more bridges with more people,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the core thing of opposing a genocide, I don\u2019t think you can do that any differently. This is your moral imperative when you\u2019re watching your people be slaughtered by the minute.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 On a recent afternoon, Mahmoud Khalil sat in his Manhattan apartment, cradling his 10-week-old…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[97,9600,3881,69,4934,57,86,4527,409,99,361,362,353,8335,410,405,403,404,50,412,406,9598,80,2938,402,5343,10425,3676,4529,2065,61,67,370,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-55105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","10":"tag-activism","11":"tag-ap-top-news","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-education-funding","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-government-policy","16":"tag-hamas","17":"tag-immigration","18":"tag-israel","19":"tag-la-state-wire","20":"tag-legal-proceedings","21":"tag-louisiana","22":"tag-mahmoud-khalil","23":"tag-marco-rubio","24":"tag-new-york","25":"tag-new-york-city","26":"tag-new-york-city-wire","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-noor-abdalla","29":"tag-ny-state-wire","30":"tag-palestinian-territories-government","31":"tag-politics","32":"tag-prisons","33":"tag-protests-and-demonstrations","34":"tag-terrorism","35":"tag-tricia-mclaughlin","36":"tag-u-s-department-of-homeland-security","37":"tag-u-s-department-of-state","38":"tag-u-s-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","39":"tag-u-s-news","40":"tag-united-states","41":"tag-united-states-government","42":"tag-unitedstates","43":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}