[News] Mahmoud Khalil Sues US Government over ‘Collusion’ with Doxxing Groups

Fri Nov 21 13:01:23 EST 2025

palestinechronicle.com 
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/mahmoud-khalil-sues-us-government-over-collusion-with-doxxing-groups-before-his-arrest/> 

  Mahmoud Khalil Sues US Government over ‘Collusion’ with Doxxing Groups

November 21, 2025
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil was released from US 
immigration detention. (Photo: video grab)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff 
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

          “For months, shady organizations and individuals carried out a
          smear and harassment campaign designed to intimidate and
          silence me.” Mahmoud Khalil

Pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil has filed a lawsuit seeking to 
compel the Trump administration to release its communications with 
anti-Palestinian organizations and individuals in the run-up to his 
arrest by US immigration authorities in March this year.

“These organizations have claimed credit for his arrest, and evidence, 
includingtestimony 
<https://knightcolumbia.org/content/dhs-tiger-team-scrutinizing-student-protesters-was-told-to-investigate-5000-names-listed-by-canary-mission-ice-official-testifies> 
from an ICE official, indicates that the administration acted on 
information – and misinformation – provided by these groups in cracking 
down on Mr. Khalil and other Palestine solidarity activists,” the Center 
for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which is part of Khalil’s legal team, 
said 
<https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/mahmoud-khalil-sues-trump-administration-info-its-collusion-anti> 
in a press statement on Thursday.

    “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.”

    — Mahmoud Khalil via @zeteo_news
    <https://twitter.com/zeteo_news?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>…

    — The CCR is on bsky (@ccrjustice.org <http://ccrjustice.org>)
    (@theCCR) November 20, 2025
    <https://twitter.com/theCCR/status/1991593039954149836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Khalil is one of at least nine people targeted by US Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement (ICE) shortly after being doxxed and harassed by the 
network of pro-Israel propaganda websites and groups, the statement added.

“For months, shady organizations and individuals carried out a smear and 
harassment campaign designed to intimidate and silence me,” Khalil 
stated. “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.”

        Freedom of Information Act

Khalil’s lawsuit “seeks to shed light on the relationship between the 
Trump administration and the shadowy organizations known for their 
unfounded allegations of terrorist ties and anti-semitism,” the 
organization said.

It noted that the lawsuit follows the administration’s failure to comply 
with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request 
<https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/mahmoud-khalil-demands-info-trump-administration-collusion-anti> which 
Khalil submitted in May.

    Mahmoud Khalil Freed after Months in ICE Detention over
    Pro-Palestine Activism
    <https://www.palestinechronicle.com/mahmoud-khalil-freed-after-months-in-ice-detention-over-pro-palestine-activism/>

The Center explained that in the interim – during a trial that led a 
federal judge to conclude that the Trump administration had engaged in 
an unconstitutional policy of “ideological deportation” – an ICE 
official testified that the agency reviewed more than 5,000 names 
supplied by Canary Mission, an anonymous, obscurely funded doxxing 
organization.

“Mr. Khalil’s was among them,” it stated, emphasizing “The testimony 
built on existing evidence of collusion.”

        Targeted, Doxxed

The organization said that several weeks before Khalil’s arrest, Betar 
USA – an affiliate of Betar, which it called “an openly racist 
ultrazionist movement” included him on its “deport list” and posted on X 
that ICE was “aware of his home address and whereabouts.”

Betar said it had shared information with administration officials, 
including Secretary of State Rubio, the statement noted. On March 7, the 
day before Khalil’s arrest, Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus called for 
his deportation in a post on X and tagged Secretary of State Marco 
Rubio. On March 6, Shai Davidai, a Columbia professor and advisory board 
member of Documenting Jew Hatred, had done the same, the statement added.

    Congratulations to Mahmoud Khalil on receiving the Champion of
    Justice award. Detained by ICE in a crackdown on anti-genocide
    advocacy, Mahmoud has endured unjust imprisonment with courage and
    dignity. His unwavering commitment to justice and free expression
    stands as a testament… pic.twitter.com/IhpFm89Cjw
    <https://t.co/IhpFm89Cjw>

    — CAIR National (@CAIRNational) September 21, 2025
    <https://twitter.com/CAIRNational/status/1969620358580801547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

“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,” Adina 
Marx-Arpadi, an attorney and Justice Fellow at the Center for 
Constitutional Rights said 
<https://ccrjustice.org/home/who-we-are/staff/marx-arpadi-adina>.

The statement highlighted that others targeted first “by the 
anti-Palestinian groups and then by the administration” are Mohsen 
Mahdawi (Columbia University), Rümeysa Öztürk (Tufts University), 
Momodou Taal (Cornell University), Dr. Badar Khan Suri (Georgetown 
University), Efe Ercelik (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Ranajani 
Srinivasan (Columbia University), Leqaa Kordia (Columbia University), 
and Yunseo Chung (Columbia University).

        All Records of Communications Sought

Khalil seeks all records of communications between ICE, the DOJ, the 
DOS, and DHS and Canary Mission, Betar, Documenting Jew Hatred On 
Campus, Columbia Alumni for Israel, Middle East Forum, Shirion 
Collective, Capital Research Center, and CAMERA, the organization stated.

He also seeks “any communications between the agencies and individuals 
reported to have targeted, doxxed, and called for or sought to 
facilitate the deportation of Mr. Khalil and other pro-Palestinian 
students.”

    Silencing Dissent: The New McCarthyism Cannot Prevail
    <https://www.palestinechronicle.com/silencing-dissent-the-new-mccarthyism-cannot-prevail/>

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the original FOIA 
request as well as the latest suit, is part of the legal team 
representing Khalil in his case challenging the constitutionality of his 
arrest and detention.

Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Khalil is a legal permanent 
resident of the US. He was released in June from an ICE detention 
facility after being held for more than 100 days.

The Colombia University graduate, who played a leading role in student 
protests against Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, continues to battle 
the Trump’s administration’s effort to deport him, which a federal judge 
has called “likely unconstitutional”, according to the Center for 
Constitutional Rights.

        $20M Claim in Damages

In July, Khalil filed a claim for $20 million in damages for the harm he 
suffered as a result of his “politically motivated arrest and detention.”

Directed at the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS) and ICE, the claim “cites a range of abuses, including malicious 
prosecution and abuse of process, false arrest, false imprisonment, and 
negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress,” the Center 
for Constitutional Rights said.

    “I was shocked by the dehumanization of Palestinians in this country.”

    Mahmoud Khalil speaks to @simonerzim
    <https://twitter.com/simonerzim?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> about
    witnessing the Columbia University, Biden, and Trump administrations
    dehumanize Palestinian existence here in the US.
    pic.twitter.com/RMEWxgKBb6 <https://t.co/RMEWxgKBb6>

    — Zeteo (@zeteo_news) November 18, 2025
    <https://twitter.com/zeteo_news/status/1990803721165680948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

The claim, it noted, was a precursor to a federal lawsuit against the 
Trump administration, which he will bring under the Federal Tort Claims 
Act, a 1946 federal statute that allows individuals to sue the U.S. 
government for damages for civil law violations.

“Mr. Khalil is seeking $20 million, which he would use to help others 
similarly targeted by the Trump administration and Columbia University. 
He would accept, in lieu of payment, an official apology and abandonment 
of the administration’s unconstitutional policy,” the organization said.

/(The Palestine Chronicle)/

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