Mahmoud Khalil sues the Trump administration..
$20 million lawsuit over political detention
Activist Mahmoud Khalil filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President
Donald Trump, demanding $20 million in compensation for damages resulting
from his politically motivated arrest and detention.
Khalil :
- a Columbia University graduate and legal resident of the United States
- is one of the most prominent figures participating in the pro
- Palestinian protests inside Columbia University.
He was released last month after being detained for more than 100 days by federal
immigration authorities, without any criminal charges being brought against him.
The Trump
administration had sought to deport him
considering that his presence might pose a threat to American foreign policy
interests.
- The legal conflict over his case has become a prominent symbol of testing
- immigrants' freedom of expression, especially with regard to
- pro-Palestinian activism in the United States.
Khalil's lawyers said in their lawsuit that the government committed a number of
violations, including false arrest and detention, maliciously motivated prosecution
misuse of legal procedures, and intentionally and negligently
causing severe psychological harm to their client.
They added that :
these damages "resulted from the arbitrary and unsubstantiated
decision taken by Secretary of State Marco Rubio "
who viewed Khalil's presence as a threat to US foreign policy.
Khalil is :
seeking $20 million in compensation :
which his lawyers say will be in support of others targeted by the Trump
administration and Columbia University. The lawyers indicated that Khalil might
accept instead of
this amount "an official apology and the administration's
abandonment of its unconstitutional policy".
During his detention, Khalil was not allowed to obtain temporary release to
attend his son's birth. His wife, Nour Abdullah, said that what happened
reflects "calculated cruelty from a government that
tears families apart without any feeling of remorse".
In contrast
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLoughlin described
Khalil's allegations of intimidation and accusations of anti-Semitism as
"ridiculous."
- She added that Khalil was the one who "terrorized Jewish students on campus"
- and that he "branded himself as anti-Semitic through
- his hateful behavior and rhetoric".
She stressed that
the Trump administration "acted within its legal and constitutional powers to
detain him, just as it does with any foreigner who incites violence
glorifies and :
supports terrorists, harasses Jews, or causes destruction of property".
Trump announces the arrest of activist Mahmoud Khalil
a "supporter of Hamas", at Columbia University and threatens more
US Presiden
- Donald Trump announced the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil
- a Palestinian student and "pro-Hamas" activist
- on the campus of Columbia University in New York.
The arrest came on executive orders previously signed by Trump
with US authorities describing Khalil as a "pro-Hamas extremist."
Trump stressed that this arrest is the first of many to come, noting that there
are other students in Colombia and other American universities involved in "pro
terrorism, anti-Semitic and anti-American" activities.
According to reports :
Mahmoud Khalil was arrested at his Columbia University-owned apartment in
Manhattan by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
His green card
which allows him to reside and work in the United States, has been cancelled.
Khalil's lawyer, Amy Jarir confirmed that the arrest took place without warning
and that he was detained immediately.
"The Trump administration will not tolerate this,"
Trump said in a statement. Many are not students, but paid agitators."
He added that the administration will continue to pursue individuals
who engage in activities that support terrorism or are hostile to America.
For his part
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States will cancel
the visas and residency permits of Hamas supporters in America
in preparation for their deportation.
"We will revoke visas and/or green cards
for Hamas supporters in America so we can deport them,"
Rubio said.
This action reflects growing tensions between the United States and Hamas
which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization.
This move also
- comes in the context of US efforts to monitor and hold accountable
- individuals suspected of participating in activities that
- support armed groups or are hostile to US policies.
The arrest sparked mixed reactions
with some US
officials supporting it as a necessary step to protect national security
while others criticized it as a violation of civil rights and academic freedoms.
This case is expected to spark a broader debate about the balance
between national security and individual rights in the United States.
Trump administration:
Mahmoud Khalil provided incorrect information in his green card application
The US
- government alleged that Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil intentionally
- provided misleading information in his green card application
- making him ineligible to enter the United States.
According to recent court documents, President Donald Trump's administration
said Khalil failed to disclose when submitting his application last year that his work
in the Syria office at the British Embassy in Beirut continued "beyond 2022"
and that he served as "Political Affairs Officer" at the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from June to November 2023.
Khalil is now charged with incapacity at the time of his status adjustment because
he fraudulently sought an immigration benefit or intentionally provided
misleading information about a material fact,"
court documents filed by the department's attorneys state.
The government also alleged that Khalil did not declare his membership in
the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group during his application.
Khalil was arrested on March 8, based on a rarely used provision in immigration
law that allows the foreign minister to revoke the legal status of people whose
presence in the country could have "negative foreign policy consequences."
The new charges appear to be an attempt to strengthen the administration's
justifications for detaining Khalil and refusing to release him.
The lawsuit states:
- "Khalil's First Amendment claims are merely an attempt at distraction
- and there is an independent basis that justifies his deportation
- sufficiently to overturn his constitutional claim."
In response to :
a request for comment from ABC News :
Mark van der Hout, the lawyer representing Khalil
said:
"The additional accusations made by the government last week are completely
baseless"
It shows that the government has no real case against the false claim that
his presence in the United States could have negative foreign policy consequences.
This issue concerns freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment
and American citizens and permanent residents have the right to express their
opinions about what is happening in the world.
The government added in its legal filing:
"Regardless of his claims regarding freedom of expression
Khalil did not disclose his membership in certain organizations
and failed to
declare his continued employment with the Syria office at the British Embassy in
Beirut when submitting a request to amend his status. It is a basic legal principle
that providing misleading information in this context is
not considered protected speech.
During a State Department press conference on Monday, several questions
were posed to spokeswoman Tammy Bruce about whether the department now
considers previous work at UNRWA :
- to be grounds
- for exclusion from visas to the United States
- but she repeatedly declined to answer.
If you lied while trying to enter the United States
or get a visa for any reason, or to get a green card, there may have been no
consequences before, or we didn't do the procedures properly in the past
but a lot of things changed after Donald Trump was elected," Bruce said.
Khalil
who is considered one of the leaders of the protests at Columbia University last
spring
was transferred after his arrest from his student residence to the 26 Federal Plaza
building in lower Manhattan, then to an immigration detention center in Elizabeth
New Jersey
before being deported to a detention center affiliated with Immigration
and Customs Enforcement in Louisiana, according to his legal team.
The United States accuses Mahmoud Khalil of
covering up his work for UNRWA
The US government claimed that Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil
did not state in his visa application that he was working for UNRWA
saying that this should be a reason for his deportation.
In a court filing dated Sunday
the US government presented its arguments for keeping Khalil in detention while
his deportation proceedings continue, noting first that the US District Court in
New Jersey, where his case is being heard, does not have jurisdiction.
The memo also claims that Khalil "hidden his membership in
some organizations", which should be a reason for his deportation.
A document dated March 17 in his case indicates that he may be deported
because he did not declare that he was a political official at UNRWA in 2023.
The United Nations
said in :
August that an investigation had revealed the possible involvement of
nine of UNRWA's 32,000 staff members in the October 7 attacks.
The US judicial :
notice also accuses Khalil of not mentioning that he worked in
the Syria office at the British Embassy in Beirut, and that he was a member of
the "Colombia Defest on Apartheid" group.
A New York :
Times report quoted Rami Qassem
a lawyer co-directing the CLEAR legal clinic, as saying that the new reasons
for deportation are "clearly weak and based on flimsy pretexts".
Qasim said :
according to the newspaper, "The government is rushing to add it at the last
minute :
as this only highlights that its motive from the beginning was reven ge against Mr.
Khalil because of
his protected speech in which he defends the rights and lives of Palestinians".
UNRWA provides food
and healthcare to Palestinian refugees and has become a major point of contention
in the Israeli war on Gaza. Israel claims that 12 UNRWA employees were involved
in Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023
which prompted the United States to stop funding the agency.
On March 8
- the administration of US President Donald Trump arrested Khalil
- a prominent figure in the pro-Palestine protests at Columbia
- University that rocked the New York campus last year
and sent him to Louisiana in an attempt to deport him from the country.
The case has drawn significant attention as a test of free speech rights, with Khalil's
supporters saying he was targeted because of his public opposition to US policy
toward Israel and its occupation of Gaza.
Khalil described himself as a "political prisoner".
A judge issued an order not to deport Khalil while his lawsuit challenging his arrest
known as a "appeal petition", was heard in another federal court.
Khalil
a Syrian-born Algerian national, entered the United States on a student visa in
2022 and later applied for permanent residency in 2024.